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- Cronkite is right about libel and slander ...
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I believe that Cronkite, Brokaw, and the other "talking heads" are jealous of the Internet and the freedom it provides to go around the traditional news media. They can't adapt, and they want things to be like the 1950's.
But Cronkite is right on one thing: people have forgotten about libel and slander laws. The lawyers have not. Many people take refuge in the idea that they are anonymous on the Internet, or that the "big fish" won't go after the "little fish" because they have nothing to take. Why spend $100,000 to sue a loud-mouth blogger who only has $1,000 in liquid assets? It doesn't make economic sense ... now.
But things can change. Just like the RIAA paid for laws to allow them to "fast-track" the punishment of music swappers, somebody else could pay Congress for a law to make it easy to punish "libelers" who write nasty things in blogs or forums.
Technology is a wonderful and terrible thing. The whole system could be automated, from the search for "suspicious" comments, to the search for the actual identity of the commentor, to the search for assets to seize in a court action that is little more than filing a form. It's all quite possible.
Imagine that you call Steve Jobs a weeny in some post, and two weeks later you get a letter saying that you have been found guilty of slander and your bank account and house title have been forfeited to the plaintiff as restitution, and you have 48 hours to vacate the premises.
Sounds positively feudal, but the technology is there to do it, all it takes is a couple of laws purchased from Congress, and the RIAA and BSA have already shown it can be done.
Welcome to corporate 1984 ... - Posted by: terry flores Posted on: 10/04/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use
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