From Australia :
asia.cnn.com
CANBERRA, Australia (Reuters) -- Australia's highest court ruled on Tuesday that a defamation case sparked by a story on a U.S Web site could be heard in Australia, opening a legal minefield for web publishers over which libel laws they must follow.
The landmark ruling that an article published by Dow Jones & Co was subject to Australian law -- because it was downloaded in Australia -- is being watched by media firms as it could set a precedent over where Internet publication occurs.
Dow Jones argued the case, brought by Australian mining magnate Joseph Gutnick for an Internet version of an article from Dow Jones' New York-based Barron's magazine, should be heard in the United States, where libel laws are considered relatively liberal.
Gutnick initiated defamation proceedings in the Supreme Court in his home state of Victoria in Australia.
Debate centred on whether an alleged defamation was published in the U.S. state of New Jersey, where Dow Jones's web servers are located, or in Victoria, where some readers saw the story.
Two Victorian courts refused Dow Jones' application. The publisher then appealed to the High Court of Australia, the country's highest court.
"The High Court has unanimously dismissed an appeal brought by Dow Jones," the court said in a statement.
"The court was asked to determine where that article was published. It has made no findings on the merits of the defamation action itself."
The court allowed 18 organisations to make submissions to the hearing, including AOL Time Warner Inc, Amazon.Com Inc, the Associated Press, Bloomberg LP, CNN, News Corporation Ltd, Reuters Group Plc and Yahoo! Inc.
Dow Jones argued that exposing publishers to defamation cases where Internet material was downloaded would expose them to claims all over the world and restrict freedom of speech.
Gutnick's lawyer, Jeffrey Sher, argued that the threat from existing defamation laws to free speech on the Internet was more imaginary than real.
"If you publish in more than one place you are subject to defamation in more than one place," he said. |
