In the US, when someone threatens to sue a site like Google or Wikipedia because of postings made by its users that are defamatory, you just point them to section 230 of the Communications Decency Act that makes it clear that service providers aren't liable for what their users say -- a law that makes a lot of sense. Courts have been getting faster and faster at throwing out those types of cases. Unfortunately, it sounds like Canada doesn't have a similar law (or case history). In Vancouver, a former Green Party staff member is apparently suing Google, Wikipedia and a Canadian political website over postings on all three that he felt were defamatory. The guy is quoted as saying: "I'm determined that the people who have acted so irresponsibly will find that there are consequences." That's nice... but if that's the case, why isn't he actually suing those responsible? He's suing the tools providers. Does he sue the phone company if someone says something bad about him over the phone? There's simply no reason to sue the tools providers instead of those actually responsible. The end result, of course, is that he's only going to get a lot more attention drawn to the fact that a lot of people don't think very highly of him and expressed that opinion in online forums. That hardly seems likely to improve his reputation.

Filed under: Household

The environmentalists in the UK have certainly been earning their paychecks of late, as it's been the Brits who have looked at outlawing standby buttons, offered up a way to kill power en masse, and now, officials are readying the launch of free household energy monitors to bring wasteful habits to light. As a part of the upcoming Energy White Paper, England is hoping that the real-time monitors "will help cut greenhouse gas emissions and the amount of energy wasted by appliances being left on standby." The devices are supposed to give dwellers a quick look at just how much energy is going to waste by leaving the bathroom light on, and a handheld extension allows you to view the killowatt-burning action from all over your domicile. Of course, it should be noted that while citizens can request one for free starting sometime in 2008, "the cost of the scheme will either be recouped through taxes or their energy bills."

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!