Libel Chill Hits Canadian Blogosphere

Whooee! Well friends an' foes, are we men or are we mice? Last night, CBC's The National had an 8 minute segment on blogging and libel and lawsuits. Section 15's Mark Francis was interviewed. Also yammerin' were Michael Geist and Kate Holloway. I'd call that big news fer the Canajun boogeysphere.

I'd expect Pergressive Boogers an' the Boogin' Tories main feeds to be full of boog stories talkin' about the CBC story and about libel laws, links and litigious lunacy. But, dang it all, there's hardly anybuddy writin' about it.

Why not? Because, like the story was all about, there's a chill in the air -- Libel Chill.

I ain't in favour of libel and slander. I come out strong when I seen a Canajun booger libellin' Scott Tribe a few months back. I'll come out strong again if I see that sorta stuff. In comin' out against a slanderin' snake, I might post a link to the offensive material. I did link to the numbnuts slanderer when Scottie was bein' victimized. The offender eventually changed his post and took out the bad stuff.

In that case, if Scott was as small-minded as some other people (who shall remain nameless on accounta they'd probbly sue my sorryass) he'd have had cause to sue me fer linkin' to the slanderer. Scott ain't small-minded and he ain't a litigious lunatic (like some nameless people). He let the libel roll off like water off a duck's back.

If we wanna protect the Canajun boogeysphere and protect free speech, we need to fight frivolous lawsuits and the libel chill they foster. Do yer part and donate what you can.

One idea I been kickin' around is fer a mass linkin' campaign where as many boogers as possible defy the litigious lunatic and link to the offensive material. Double-dog-dare the sumbitch to sue everybuddy. It might backfire, though, on somebuddy who ain't afraid o' tryin' to sue Google, Yahoo, MySpace an' Wikipedia.

Or, we can all point an' laff an'compare this case to that numbnuts Merkan judge who tried suin' the poor dry cleaners fer $67 million when they lost his suit pants. He not only lost his suit pants, he lost his lawsuit and was ordered to pay costs. Plus, the whole world seen what a small-minded, greedy bullyboy he is.

JimBobby

Scott Tribe Attacked

Whooee! I seen a boog story this mornin' that set my blood a-boil. A feller who's been boogin' long enuff t' know better made an unfounded accusation against Scott Tribe. The irresponsible boog publisher made his accusation based soley on guesswork.

Yesterday, Scotty pointed a few people in my direction an' I went inta Scotty's comments an' sed sumpin' I sed before - Scott Tribe is a credit t' the Canajun boogeysphere. Boogers who make ad hominem attacks based on conjecture are a discredit t' the boogeysphere an' also t' the human race.

Definition of slander:

• words falsely spoken that damage the reputation of another
• aspersion: an abusive attack on a person's character or good name
• defame: charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone; "The journalists have defamed me!" "The article in the paper sullied my reputation"
  (wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn)

Definition of libel:

• a false and malicious publication printed for the purpose of defaming a living person
• print slanderous statements against; "The newspaper was accused of libeling him"
• the written statement of a plaintiff explaining the cause of action (the defamation) and any relief he seeks
  (wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn)

Definition of snake:

• limbless scaly elongate reptile; some are venomous
• a deceitful or treacherous person
  (wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn)

JimBobby

UPDATE: The slanderer just removed all comments critical of his unfounded accusations while leaving the accusations in his original post stand as well as leaving his own further comments. Any tiny doubts that I might have had about the ethics of this cretin have just been erased. He deserves only contempt. FYI, there were comments from me, BigCityLib, BCer in TO and maybe another (I can't remember.)

When readers take the time to compose and post comments, jump through the Captcha hoop, and take a writer to task for improper behaviour, they deserve to have those comments left intact. The comments were critical but did not use profanity. The comments deserved a response but all they got was censorship. So much for free speech. Another blow to the credibility of the Canajun boogeysphere, sez I.

SECOND UPDATE: The slanderer may have got legal counsel. He's modified his original post. I reckon that's what they call revisionism... or coverin' yer ass.

JB