Aussie court ruling may set precedent beyond defamation
The recent Australian court ruling that overseas web publishers can be sued for defamation in Australia could have implications beyond defamation law, says lawyer, Rick Shera.
The recent Australian court ruling that overseas web publishers can be sued for defamation in Australia could have implications beyond defamation law, says lawyer, Rick Shera.
An Australian court ruling that overseas web publishers can be sued for defamation in Australia, will be felt here says an Auckland lawyer.
The High Court of Australia ruled yesterday that a story published by Dow Jones & Co on a US-hosted website can be grounds for a defamation lawsuit against the story to be heard in Australia, as the story was downloaded and viewed in Australia.
British physicist Laurence Godfrey, who was responsible for a landmark UK legal case on defamation on the internet and the accountability of ISPs, has leapt into the fray again, once more targeting a New Zealander.
Both the New Zealand and Australian courts have recently issued ground-breaking decisions in the area of internet defamation. In both cases the courts have had to balance the right to protect one’s reputation against the principle of freedom of expression. As a result, interesting issues relating to the role of country-specific laws in the internet world have emerged.