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The Courts

Court Victory Gives Blogger Same Speech Protections As Traditional Press 137

Posted by Soulskill from the take-that-traditional-journalism dept.
cold fjord writes "Reuters reports, 'A blogger is entitled to the same free speech protections as a traditional journalist and cannot be liable for defamation unless she acted negligently, a federal appeals court ruled on Friday. Crystal Cox lost a defamation trial in 2011 over a blog post she wrote accusing a bankruptcy trustee and Obsidian Finance Group of tax fraud. A lower court judge had found that Obsidian did not have to prove that Cox acted negligently because Cox failed to submit evidence of her status as a journalist. But in the ruling, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said Cox deserved a new trial, regardless of the fact that she is not a traditional reporter. "As the Supreme Court has accurately warned, a First Amendment distinction between the institutional press and other speakers is unworkable."... Eugene Volokh, [a] Law professor who represented Cox, said Obsidian would now have to show that Cox had actual knowledge that her post was false when she published it. ... "In this day and age, with so much important stuff produced by people who are not professionals, it's harder than ever to decide who is a member of the institutional press."' Further details are available at Courthouse News Service."

Comment Re:This just in, spy wants spy rules to stay (Score 1) 316

by MrLint (#45828573) Attached to: Former Head of NSA Calls For Obama To Reject NSA Commission Recommendations

"It makes me wonder why the NSA is pushing so hard to keep unconstitutional spying programs in place"

CYA? Seriously, leadership never takes responsibility. When you dump every possible thing on the table for the leaders to look at, at no point can the phrase "we didn't know" be said honestly.

Comment Seriously? (Score 1) 786

by MrLint (#45259493) Attached to: Why Can't Big Government Launch a Website?

Because its neither a simple system or is it "just" a web site. This is a false equivalency (propagated by whom, I don't know) that seems to 1) imply that a 'website' is equivalent to Bob's geocities html page from 1992 and 2) thats all that is going on with it.

I have to really wonder if any of the 'concern trolls' have actually tried to deploy a database drive web portal in which 1) all parts are under your control and 2) without other regulatory overhead, and 3) has to handle more than a few hundred people.

But hey, if it really is that "simple", then the market is ripe for your technical prowess. Seize the opportunity.

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