Upcoming privacy forum
Wednesday, August 13th, 2008If you’re interested in privacy, you might like to register for the Privacy Commissioner’s Privacy Issues Forum, to be held in Wellington on 27 August. The programme includes a keynote speech from the Commissioner herself and a presentation on the Law Commission’s work on privacy by Sir Geoffery Palmer and John Burrows QC, as well […]
But is it privacy?
Wednesday, August 13th, 2008The Evening Standard has printed an apology for falsely reporting that Prince Philip was suffering from prostate cancer: We now accept that the story was untrue and that he is not suffering from any such condition. We unreservedly apologise both to him and to his family for making this distressing allegation and for breaching his […]
When half a quote isn’t better than none
Thursday, August 7th, 2008You might have spotted my star turn on One News last night. It was part of a story about National referring the taped-conversations affair (“CocktailGate”?) to the police. Might there have been a crime? Here’s the quote One News used from me, suggesting that I told them that the recording “may have broken the law”: If […]
Picking up the Bill II
Wednesday, August 6th, 2008So now John Key is accusing Labour of being behind the “bugging” of conversations at the cocktail party. He suggested on Morning Report this morning that the repeated questions put to Bill English about Kiwibank sounded like someone was trying to set him up. (Key is also throwing in the suggestion that Labour was behind Nicky […]
Picking up the Bill
Tuesday, August 5th, 2008Did whoever surreptitiously recorded Bill English break the law? What about the media who published the conversation or its contents? It’s a crime to tape a conversation between other people if the circumstances indicate that one of the conversers wants it to be private (section 216B of the Crimes Act). I have no idea how […]
Target under fire
Wednesday, July 30th, 2008A few years ago, I did a report for RNZ’s MediaWatch programme, raising questions about whether the hidden camera stings in TV3’s Target programme were complying with broadcasting standards and the law of trespass. Over the years, Target has survived a string of broadcasting standards complaints. The producers deserve some credit. They always take care to try to […]
The media’s revenge
Monday, July 28th, 2008A MailOnline profile on Justice Eady: “As cold as a frozen haddock, Mr Justice Eady hands down his views shorn of moral balance”. Mean. News of the World strikes back, too.
Okay, so does Mosley affect NZ law?
Monday, July 28th, 2008Quite a bit, potentially. Remember, there was no claim in defamation (Mosley now says he’ll bring a separate lawsuit for that). And Mosley had failed in his injunction bid because the cat was out of the bag – the pictures were in the public domain. Remember, too, that the framework of the law in the […]
Highlights from Mosley v News Group Newspapers
Sunday, July 27th, 2008This is the privacy case against News of the World for publishing hidden camera photos and video clips of Formula One boss Max Mosley’s B & D session with five women. The paper alleged (wrongly, the judge found) that the sessions involved Nazi role-playing that effectively mocked the suffering of the Jews in the death […]
Jesus, this law sucks
Sunday, July 27th, 2008A belated note: the UK has abolished the offence of blasphemy. It was a stupid offence for any number of reasons, not least of which is that it only applies to insulting Christianity. I’m with Norightturn, who reckons it’s time to follow suit in NZ. Blasphemous libel is still in the Crimes Act. There has […]
« Previous Entries Next Entries »