Blogged down: censoring the Web.IN THE last few months, legislators in both Texas and Tennessee have explored the idea of slapping blogs with special "online defamation defamation In law, issuance of false statements about a person that injure his reputation or that deter others from associating with him. Libel and slander are the legal subcategories of defamation. Libel is defamation in print, pictures, or any other visual symbols. " regulations. A Tennessee proposal, pushed by state Sen. Jamie Woodson (R-Knoxville), would give bloggers two days to take down any statement a public figure deems defamatory def·a·ma·tion n. The act of defaming; calumny. de·fam  a·to ry adj. . Those who fail to comply would face
"a presumption A conclusion made as to the existence or nonexistence of a fact that must be drawn from other evidence that is admitted and proven to be true. A Rule of Law.If certain facts are established, a judge or jury must assume another fact that the law recognizes as a logical of malice malice, in law, an intentional violation of the law of crimes or torts that injures another person. Malice need not involve a malignant spirit or the definite intent to do harm. intent" and the statement would not actually have to be defamatory for the presumption to kick in. Prominent bloggers have helped beat back this initial batch of bills, but the onslaught is probably just beginning. As blogs traffic in more video and start to look more like little broadcasters than Committees of Correspondence, politicians will want to regulate. Campaign ads, driven to the Internet by restrictions on old media, may spark a regulatory showdown. |
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