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Archive for November, 2009

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Perhaps he was deprived of oxygen at birth

Monday, November 30th, 2009

Here’s the really interesting thing about Stuff’s story about Paul Henry’s comments on Susan Boyle. They’re using a photo that makes Henry appear a bit retarded himself. If you look at him carefully, you can make it out.

There can be only one…

Sunday, November 29th, 2009

Britain is  toying with abolishing the so-called “multiple publication rule” for defamation, and switching to a US-style “single publication rule”. Under the multiple publication rule, every different publication (ie newspaper copy sold, internet post downloaded, etc) is a separate publication and can be sued upon. This is particularly a problem for online archives, which effectively […]

Fact Suppression

Sunday, November 29th, 2009

Which is worse: our name suppression laws, or the media’s coverage of them? Today, the Sunday Star-Times leads with a story headlined “Identity of high profile drug accused kept secret”. The story is about a familiar one: public figure gets name suppression; cue outrage. Never mind that this particular defendant’s name was not suppressed between […]

Best headline of the year

Friday, November 27th, 2009

My nomination: The NZ Herald’s Orchestral man hoovers in the dark

Best quote from Sarah Palin’s new book “Going Rogue”

Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

If God had not intended for us to eat animals, how come He made them out of meat?  Hat-tip: Slate

Back on the block

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

I’m back in town, after a stint overseas. If there’s some juicy speech issue I’ve missed, do drop me a line.

Are you really anonymous online?

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 55% of bloggers blog under a pseudonym. Obviously plenty of others use pseudonyms when posting comments about the place. Some of the posts by bloggers and commenters breach laws such as defamation, privacy, breach of confidence, harrassment and copyright. In most cases, the relevant ISPs have access […]

Wrong turn by bus campaigners

Sunday, November 22nd, 2009

You know what appals me most about the save-Manners-mall-from-buses campaign’s decision to hire students to front up for a protest march? It’s not the sheer stupidity of the tactic, which was surely always likely to bite them in the bum. It’s not that they’ve completely undone their own cause, illustrating how little support they can […]

ReputationDefenders.com

Friday, November 20th, 2009

This is an interesting outfit that looks to use (mostly non-lawyer-based) methods to search out client’s online reputations and help them beat back any “inaccurate, inappropriate, hurtful and slanderous information”. Dunno if they’re any good, but evidently Dr Phil thinks they are.

A prickly issue

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

Cactus Kate is up in arms about some editorial guidelines she says APN management have been circulating to reporters, including those at the NZ Herald. Her most alarming claim by far is that: The thrust is all to do with NO budget allocated for legal action or defence so the editors have basically been told […]

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