Getting on with my life and thinking about things.
You have no rights on the Internet. Just a series of Terms & Conditions that you blindly accept. There is no freedom of speech unless you have your own server and don't have to worry about an ISP. You have nothing.
This was shown today by the closing of a UK blog host after receiving lawyer's letters. Under UK law, no crime had been committed. Under UK law, no legal authority had requested that the site(s) be closed down.
It’s extraordinary, but true, and even though we live in a image democracy where freedom of speech is a right we can enjoy, that freedom does not extend to your blog if you upset a rich and powerful person.
That is the gist of Iain Dale’s unbelievable post outlining the shutting down of Tim Ireland’s Bloggerhead’s site, as well as Craig Murray’s, former Ambassador to Uzbekhistan.
They both spoke out against the Russian/Uzbekh billionaire, Alisher Usmanov, (pictured) who is trying to buy Arsenal FC. Lawyers letters followed which led to the webhost pulling the plug.
Link to More4 News clip (interview starts about 60 seconds in). Nothing at the time of posting on the BBC news, their technology pages merely saying that we should "fight cyberbullies" - oh, that's in schools, not in the real world. So, the BBC isn't being ironic.
As news items change rapidly, I'll add a caveat that this information is what is known to me at the time of posting. (link to my legal representative)
5 comments:
Based on this and your last post I'd say having a blog is becoming a dangerous business...watch what you're saying Aktoman ;-)
I think the most dangerous business is being a forum host in the UK. All these people writing things on various threads and the host can be called to task on anything posted, on all these interwoven conversations. A blog is one item.
Allllllah!
gnignirb fo kniht neve t'nod
s'ti ,siht no ni ythgimllA ehT
snomed s'naM ot nwod lla
"A web hosting company has said it shut down a blogging platform that was home to over 70,000 bloggers because a "link to terrorist material" and an al-Qaeda "hit list" was posted to the site."
BBC full story
Yup, 70,000 blogs shut down. That's like closing a whole bookshop cos there's a copy of a WW2 home guard manual for sale in the shop. Oops, bye bye Waterstones.
I'm just glad that I don't have to make these decisions. Hey ho.
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