07/ 29/ 2005
by Reid Goldsborough
A curious, recent brainchild of the Internet is the “blog,” short for Web log. These public online diaries have attracted a lot of attention lately for giving ordinary people a place to air their views about personal––even private––matters to anyone interested.
A fair amount of self-absorption defines the blogging movement, despite the fact that many blogs include commentary about politics and popular culture. Lately, political organizations and commercial enterprises have started using blogs to promote their causes and profits.
Authentic blogs can provide a fascinating view inside the minds of others by giving you insight into their thinking. This also applies to business blogs created by companies as a new-media way of letting interested customers in on company activities and plans.
Letting loose, however, is not without its risks, and this involves more than inadvertently airing your dirty laundry. Sometimes, speaking freely and publicly about other people or organizations can get you threatened with a lawsuit, if you criticize them or reveal information they don’t want revealed. Other times, it can get you fired.
To help bloggers get better acquainted with the legalities, the Electronic Frontier Foundation released its free Legal Guide for Bloggers. “We want to help bloggers understand the laws that affect them so they can better protect and defend their rights,” said Kurt Opsahl, the EFF staff attorney who coordinated the project.
EFF, which celebrates its 15-year anniversary this year, is one of the most visible voices online promoting the rights of Internet users.
In addition to foundation grants, the San Francisco-based EFF receives its funding primarily from members, who pay whatever they feel appropriate in dues. In exchange, they receive a “warm and fuzzy feeling from defending digital freedom,” Opsahl said.
EFF publishes a free, bi-weekly e-mail newsletter, EFFector, to inform readers about recent cases and developments involving the Internet, such as free speech, libel, privacy, freedom of information, copyright and fair use issues. EFF’s new legal guide addresses these issues in regard to blogging.
The following is the best advice the guide offers:
- You may quote short bits of what someone has written, particularly if you’re providing commentary, without violating his or her copyright.
- You may report facts or other’s ideas, though it’s considered plagiarism to couch them as your own.
- You may use the trademarked name of a company without the trademark symbol, unless you use it as the name of your own competing product or service or imply that the trademark holder endorses your content.
- In criticizing another party, truth is an absolute defense against libel, but truth can be expensive to prove legally.
- You can’t just stick an “in my opinion” in front of a verifiable statement for it to become opinion and, thus, be protected against a libel charge.
- If you don’t name a person you’re criticizing, but he or she is identifiable through the context of what you say, you can still be liable for libel.
- If you make up something about a company, such as finding a severed finger in the company’s chili, you can be liable for trade libel.
- You may be liable for invasion of privacy if you publish private facts about someone that are offensive and not a matter of public concern.
- If you get an unjustified cease-and-desist letter or e-mail, consider exposing the party trying to squash your freedom of expression at the Chilling Effects Clearinghouse.
- If you criticize your boss or company in your personal blog, even while using your own computer and Internet service provider during off hours, you could legally be fired––if you’re an “at will” employee.
Opsahl emphasized that the guide isn’t a substitute for legal counsel. If you’re sued or threatened with a lawsuit, or if you feel you need a lawyer for any other purpose related to blogging, the EFF can help you find one who has relevant expertise. If the EFF decides that your case has the potential of changing the law, it may take it on a pro bono basis.
Reid Goldsborough is a syndicated columnist and author of the book, Straight Talk About the Information Superhighway. He can be reached at reidgold@netaxs.com or at www. members.home.net/reidgold
