gunsynd: It's the end of free speech,now I can't say what I believe.Nor have an opinion.
Look out for moderators coming here to delete every second post.
immi101: defamation and hate-speech are not protected as free speech. if a website owner gets knowledge of such a user comment , he has to remove it.
Not sure why that is controversial? *shrug*
if you think that won't allow you to voice your opinion anymore, you might want to rethink the way you participate in a discussion :p
Even the EU E-Commerce Directive specifically allows that. It only excludes liability when the intermediary, in this case the website, has put in place a notice-and-takedown system and responds accordingly. There is a reasonable threshold and it's specifically taken into consideration by the Court. From the facts of the case I gather that the website has done nothing at all for six weeks, until the lawyers had to request the removal. They were even criticised and warned for this practice. Seems fair to me. If you don't care at all what is posted on your website even if it is brought to your attention, you might as well be responsible for it, given that you are the one keeping those comments on the web for everyone to see.
immi101: defamation and hate-speech are not protected as free speech. if a website owner gets knowledge of such a user comment , he has to remove it.
Not sure why that is controversial? *shrug*
if you think that won't allow you to voice your opinion anymore, you might want to rethink the way you participate in a discussion :p
gunsynd: If I can't say what's on my mind or have an opinion without penalty,then what's the
good of free speech?I understand certain things are taboo and usually stay out of
it,unless I see something wrongly stated.Oh well,this is the future and it's been
coming a long time and nothing I can do to alter it.
European laws simply don't recognise an absolute right to free speech. Some countries like the UK have pretty extensive defamation laws. It's been like that for a long time. In private relationships, you can be held accountable. It's different when the State would prosecute you for this, then the right to free speech is generally wider.