One-stop-shop for media complaints – Law Commission
Tuesday, March 26th, 2013The NZ Law Commission has recommended that we scrap the Press Council, Broadcasting Standards Authority and nascent Online Media Standards Authority, and replace them with one body setting and policing news standards across the board. The Commission suggests we call it the “News Media Standards Authority” (NMSA). It would look more like the current Press […]
On purpose
Thursday, March 21st, 2013If someone applies for a civil restraining order under our Harrassment Act, there is a defence of lawful purpose. I’ve often wondered just how far this can be taken. It must surely be a lawful purpose to tell someone that you love them. But it’s hard to see that excusing a fellow who pursues this […]
Leveson solution
Thursday, March 21st, 2013If you’re interested in what the British politicians have drawn up to implement the Leveson report, you could do worse that take a gander at this summary.
Law Commission praised
Thursday, March 21st, 2013Last night, delivering the Robin Cooke memorial lecture, UK Court of Appeal judge Dame Mary Arden was full of praise of NZ’s Law Commission’s paper on media regulation. She noted that, unlike the Leveson inquiry, the Law Commission’s brief was to consider media regulation as a whole, not just focus on print media. The Commission’s […]
Unhealthy secrecy?
Wednesday, March 20th, 2013A hard call Was the coroner right to suppress the names of the health care workers involved in the tragic death of Zachary Gravatt of menigicoccal disease in 2009? After all, he found the hospital was swamped with swine flu victims and Zachary’s symptoms were very similar. He was given considerable care and attention, and […]
Defamation damages against anonymous Facebook troll(s)
Monday, March 18th, 2013The High Court in Northern Ireland has awarded defamation damages against a defendant known only as “a person or persons adopting the pseudonyms Ann Driver and Alan Driver”. “Ann” and “Alan Driver” had smeared the plaintiffs’ reputations on Facebook. The INFORRM blog suggests that his/her/their true identity was never established, and the judgment will only […]
In my opinion
Tuesday, March 5th, 2013The UK’s Court of Appeal has once again overturned a High Court ruling that a publication was stating fact, not opinion. The guidance that the courts give on this elusive distinction is so useless that it seems that often the only way to tell whether something is a statement of fact or opinion is to […]
Corrections corrected again
Wednesday, February 20th, 2013Let’s admit it up front: running a prison must be a shit of a job. The inmates hardly have a good track record of playing nice or following rules. For all that, it’s a bad look when our Department of Corrections itself disobeys the law. Which it seems to do routinely. A few years back […]
Bad Target practice
Tuesday, February 19th, 2013Don’t like a decision of the Broadcasting Standards Authority? Well, just ignore it. That’s what the consumer TV programme Target seems to have done. Back in 2007, the BSA made it clear that Target is invading trade workers’ privacy when it invites them into its mock home for its hidden camera trials. That doesn’t mean […]
Are host ISPs liable for bloggers’ defamation?
Monday, February 18th, 2013The answer now appears to be: “yes, after they’ve been notified”. The English CA has just delivered judgment in the appeal against Eady J’s decision in Tamiz v Google. In that case, Eady J had continued a movement away from what seemed to be the first-principles position: that ISPs hosting blogs are publishers at common […]
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