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[FYI] [FYI] UK - Pre-trial High Court ruling ecognises ISP liabi
- To: debate@fitug.de
- Subject: [FYI] [FYI] UK - Pre-trial High Court ruling ecognises ISP liabi
- From: Horns@t-online.de (Axel H. Horns)
- Date: Tue, 11 May 1999 18:56:51 +0100
- Comment: This message comes from the debate mailing list.
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http://www.echo.lu/legal/en/news/9904/chapter5.html#1
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5. Content of Internet and audio-visual and information services
5.1. UK - Pre-trial High Court ruling
recognises ISP liability for third party
content
On 26 March 1999, a pre-trial court ruling
by Mr Justice Morland in London's High
Court held a leading UK Internet Service
Provider liable for a defamatory
third-party opinion expressed in a
discussion forum hosted by its servers. The
ISP announced it will appeal against this
ruling, claiming that the posting was made
by an unknown individual in the US
participating in a discussion group and not
by one of its customers. The ruling, if not
reversed on appeal, might have a widespread
impact on the whole on-line industry. In
fact, it could lead to Internet Service
Providers being charged with responsibility
for monitoring millions of personal
opinions carried over their servers. This
decision highlights the contentious area of
liability for publication and opens up the
debate on free speech and censorship of
content.
Press release available at
http://www.dispatches.demon.net/cgi-bin/fra
mer.pl/pr/1999/pr1999-03-26a.html
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