Free Pony Theory ~ 12 Laws Every Blogger Needs to Know

Joined: 23 Sep 2006 Posts: 1088

http://www.avivadirectory.com/blogger-law/

Is Deep Linking Legal:

One of the biggest advantages that blogging has over traditional media is the convention to include links in an article which connect the reader directly with the source. The links could direct the reader to a file, a different page on the same site or to a new site altogether. Despite the generally helpful nature of linking and the internet’s open platform, however, linking is not free from US government regulation.

The Duty to Monitor Your Blog Comments, and Liability:

For those of you who have opened your sites up to user-driven content, be it comments, reviews, or a bulletin board, you may have had to deal with finding slanderous, libelous, copyright infringing, or just plain hateful speech content on your site. Even though you as the webmaster didn’t have anything to do with the content, people inevitably look to you to fix the problem or even to blame when someone gets hurt. This raises two important questions for you the webmaster; are you required (or allowed) to turn the offender’s name over to authorities, and what is your duty to monitor the user-generated content?

What is the law?

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act governs a blogger’s liability for user-generated content. Thankfully, Section 230 carves out broad protection for bloggers with only two exceptions. The law was designed to encourage free speech by allowing ISP’s, bloggers, and message board webmasters to focus on building participation rather than on the potential liability of getting sued for some user’s crimes. But while it protects bloggers from things like having to monitor for defamation, slander or hurtful talk, the law does not provide protection for federal crimes or intellectual property violations, meaning that you can potentially be found contributorily liable if this type of behavior takes place on your site.

When it comes to the question of whether you must (or can) turn over the poster’s contact information to the authorities if a suit is brought, the answer is even less clear. A leading case on the issue is Doe v. Cahill, in which the court required the service provider to identify the anonymous poster. But other courts have gone the other direction, and congress is currently revisiting the issue. At this point, the safest path is probably to explicitly state in the terms of use that you will turn over the information to any and all requesting authorities so that you will be covered if the issue ever comes up. It isn’t a perfect solution, but until the law clears up, it is a lot better than getting sued.

Are Bloggers Protected from Journalism Shield Laws:

Whether the local newspaper reporter is ready to admit it or not, bloggers have begun to supplant traditional print reporters as leading journalists. Unfortunately, the laws that have protected print journalists from revealing confidential sources do not always map easily onto the role that bloggers play in media. Thus the question of whether a blogger will be legally permitted to keep his source’s information confidential if subpoenaed isn’t an easy one to answer.

What is the law?

Bloggers acting as reporters can be excluded from shield laws that have traditionally protected print media reporters. Currently, 31 states and the District of Columbia have recognized shield laws through state law, while judicial decisions have provided reporters protection in another 18 states. As the laws have been interpreted, however, they only apply to journalists in the traditional formal sense. That doesn’t mean that they exclude bloggers altogether, only that for a blogger to qualify for protection he must meet the standards laid out by the courts for “traditional journalism.”