RE: The Economist and e-Archiving

["Marc Brodsky" <brodsky@aip.org>]

The big problem with the Web is whose courts and whose legislatures and
whether truth and objective reporting may too easily be interpreted as
illegal by some lower courts and whether one should roll over and accept
this without appeal. 

Marc

>>> rickand@unr.edu 06/19/03 08:07PM >>>
> Who decides what is unlawful to publish?
Legislative bodies and the courts.

> To archive?
Legislative bodies and the courts.

> About your right to speak?
Legislative bodies and the courts.

> To archive?
Legislative bodies and the courts.

Let's be clear about something here: libel and slander are not civil
rights. The law does indeed limit what we can say and publish, and I don't
believe any thoughtful person would have it otherwise.  The question is
whether a slander, once illegally published, thereby acquires the special
status of being part of the "public record" and therefore must remain
available to the public.  Personally, I don't think that needs to be the
case, but I can understand arguments to the contrary.

-------------
Rick Anderson
rickand@unr.edu