OIA FYI
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009Speaking of the Law Commission, they’re seeking your views on whether we should be changing our official information laws. Online survey here. You’ll have to be in quickly though: they want the feedback by January [Update: new deadline is 15 February].
Contempt announcement looming
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009At the R v the Internet conference last week Attorney-General Chris Finlayson said there’s a government announcement on the law of contempt looming. A reference to the Law Commission perhaps?
Perhaps he was deprived of oxygen at birth
Monday, November 30th, 2009Here’s the really interesting thing about Stuff’s story about Paul Henry’s comments on Susan Boyle. They’re using a photo that makes Henry appear a bit retarded himself. If you look at him carefully, you can make it out.
There can be only one…
Sunday, November 29th, 2009Britain is toying with abolishing the so-called “multiple publication rule” for defamation, and switching to a US-style “single publication rule”. Under the multiple publication rule, every different publication (ie newspaper copy sold, internet post downloaded, etc) is a separate publication and can be sued upon. This is particularly a problem for online archives, which effectively […]
Fact Suppression
Sunday, November 29th, 2009Which is worse: our name suppression laws, or the media’s coverage of them? Today, the Sunday Star-Times leads with a story headlined “Identity of high profile drug accused kept secret”. The story is about a familiar one: public figure gets name suppression; cue outrage. Never mind that this particular defendant’s name was not suppressed between […]
Best headline of the year
Friday, November 27th, 2009My nomination: The NZ Herald’s Orchestral man hoovers in the dark
Best quote from Sarah Palin’s new book “Going Rogue”
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009If God had not intended for us to eat animals, how come He made them out of meat? Hat-tip: Slate
Back on the block
Monday, November 23rd, 2009I’m back in town, after a stint overseas. If there’s some juicy speech issue I’ve missed, do drop me a line.
Are you really anonymous online?
Monday, November 23rd, 2009According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 55% of bloggers blog under a pseudonym. Obviously plenty of others use pseudonyms when posting comments about the place. Some of the posts by bloggers and commenters breach laws such as defamation, privacy, breach of confidence, harrassment and copyright. In most cases, the relevant ISPs have access […]
Wrong turn by bus campaigners
Sunday, November 22nd, 2009You know what appals me most about the save-Manners-mall-from-buses campaign’s decision to hire students to front up for a protest march? It’s not the sheer stupidity of the tactic, which was surely always likely to bite them in the bum. It’s not that they’ve completely undone their own cause, illustrating how little support they can […]
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