A note of caution
Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2007 6:22 am
A judge has just ordered a website for disgruntled Sheffield Wednesday fans to speak their minds, to disclose the identities of several annonymous, potentialy libelous, posters. Unless overturned in the appeal courts, it sets a precedent that could have profound consequences for many discussion sites such as this one. The good news for admin is that the judge did not find the sites owner to be complicit in any possble libel as he could not be responsible for everything written by posters. The judge clearly implied that a website owner does not have a duty to vet every posting and censor it per se, only that when its drawn to their attention, they should seriously consider removing it.