US first amendment, the internet and Australian law

[Asguard]

there was recently an artical on channel 7's version of "current affairs", today tonight about a trend in people being defamed and bullied on the internet. Nothing really new about that but aparently the problem with this new batch is the US specifically that australians are using US hoasted websited that they are paying for and maintaining to get around defimation laws. Now i dont belive ANYTHING on channel 7 or 9 and very little on 10 but it does suggest a problem with cross boarder inforcement of the internet if no action can be taken against defermation in australia by the telicomunications and media authority because of the First amendment in the US.


Now the probably made up part of the story (i wouldnt put it past channel 7 to have made this up or for the complaining person to have done this herself for atention) was that a girls ex-boy friend had made defaming posts which were surposedly effecting her getting jobs in nursing if her potentual employers googled her

The strange thing is i though there WERE defimation laws in the US anyway and that it wasnt protected under the first amendment

 

[Baron Max]

The strange thing is i though there WERE defimation laws in the US anyway and that it wasnt protected under the first amendment

Well, the first thing you must do is check out the legal definition of "defamation" as pertains to US courts. And I can tell you right now that it's not a simple thing to understand and, worse, it's not a simple thing to prove in court.

Just my uneducated opinion, but trying to do much about the Internet is going to be an uphill climb all the way ....and might never be done.

Baron Max

 

[Asguard]

the symplest way to fix this is to change the laws so that it doesnt matter WHERE it is published, only that it was written in australia by a resident of australia.

That would give the TAMA back its teeth

 

[Baron Max]

the symplest way to fix this is to change the laws so that it doesnt matter WHERE it is published, only that it was written in australia by a resident of australia.

That would give the TAMA back its teeth

No, because some Aussie would contact some German to make those same comments ......and it would all be coming from a German in Germany. Aussies are pretty good, but unless you sent Crocodile Dundee after that German, you'd stand no chance of getting any conviction on anything.

Baron Max

 

[Asguard]

fair comment, so what is the solution?

Alowing the cirumvention of defimation laws here is not an acceptable option so what is the best way to deal with this?

In the case they were pointing out the whole thing traced back to one computer (even the TV station had no trouble tracking it down so the police and TAMA wouldnt have either), it wasnt the who did it that was stoping procution or lack of evidence. It was symply where the server was based.

This is a hypothetical (the story was to complex and could be culturally biased to be used as an example here) say you and your ex break up but your ex wants to get back at you so they use this website to post that your a pediphile. The police investigate and find the allergations are COMPLEATLY false and only motivated by a disire to destroy your carricter.

However the server is in the US so TAMA cant start a procution against your ex for destroying your reputation (and possably your career as well if you work in Health, Education or are a polly or a 100 other areas)

How would you write the law such that you would be protected from this?

 

[Baron Max]

fair comment, so what is the solution?

How would you write the law such that you would be protected from this?

Personally, I don't think there is a solution. And I'm not being my old normal self here ....I think that we, as a society, have allowed the Internet to become all-inclusive, all-important, and all-perfect innocence.

To say it in a word or two, with the Internet, we've created a monster and we can't kill it, no one can kill it.

Baron Max