This post is not about the usual kind of "monsters", it is about another kind of "monster", the retrograde English libel legislation that affects bloggers (like me) wherever they live, because:
It doesn’t matter where your site or blog is hosted or what language it’s in. If your site can be read in England, it’s subject to English law.
That is, if an English reader gets to access your blog, the act of downloading information or uploading the page occurs in England. It does not matter if your blog is written in another language (i.e. Spanish) if they are read by people who understand the language and are located in England, you may be sued if someone feels that you have written something defamatory.
Amazing isn't it?
See Here what happened to Simon Singh, who published an article in the Guardian newspaper a year ago in which he accused the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) of "happily" promoting "bogus" treatments. (his words not mine). BCA sued him for libel.
In this case, both BCA and Singh are English, but in another case, Mr. Rinat Akhmetov, a Ukrainian millionaire, sued -and won- a Ukraine-based website about an article published only in Ukrainian language. Because it had been read in Britain!
So bloggers beware and don't let the English read your posts or access your blog or you may get into trouble.
More information Here, in an interesting article by The Economist.
To show that I care about science or free speech below is a banner supporting freedom of speech (click on it!):
Copyright 2009 by Austin Whittall ©
Patagonian Monsters
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