Hi all, I'm forwarding the email below as it affects Wikimedia a bit, due to the following (extracted from Anthony Lester's Guardian article): "The Bill sets out the circumstances in which an internet service provider or forum host should not be liable for defamatory material and sets time limits on suing." The details can be found online at: http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2010-11/defamationhl.html The appropriate section is section 9, "Responsibility for publication". On the surface, it looks reasonable for Wikimedia (meaning the WMF primarily, but also WMUK if we ever assist with hosting), as we'd fall straight under 9.1a as a facilitator and hence would clearly not be liable. I have to admit to not being familiar with the details of existing law on this, but presumably it's a lot more unclear. Mike Begin forwarded message: From: news(a)libelreform.org Date: 27 May 2010 15:31:49 GMT+01:00 To: libelreform(a)mikepeel.net Subject: Big news - Lord Lester has officially tabled a libel reform bill Dear friends A Libel Reform Bill has been tabled in the House of Lords Lord Lester QC has published a Private Members’ Defamation Bill to reform England’s outdated and unjust libel laws. This is the first attempt in over a century to put forward a wholesale redraft of our libel laws to address many of the issues our campaign has highlighted. Lord Lester’s Bill covers a great deal of the recommendations of the Libel Reform Campaign including a statutory defence for responsible publication on a matter of public interest; clarifying the defences of justification and fair comment, which will be renamed as ‘truth’ and ‘honest opinion’. The Bill will also: require claimants to provide evidence their reputation was damaged by an alleged libel before they can bring a case forward (they don’t have to do this at present) and make corporations prove financial damage before they can sue. Address the problems introduced by the rise of the internet and the culture of online publication including the multiple publication rule that makes each download a fresh instance of libel, and alter the responsibility of forum hosts for what is posted on their sites. Encourage the speedy settlement of disputes without parties having to bring in costly lawyers. Promote the speedy settlement of disputes without recourse to the courts. There is a great piece by Lord Lester on why he is doing this now here. And Simon Singh has written his thoughts on the bill here. Thanks to your support we’ve made the case that libel law reform is an issue politicians know they have to act on. There is widespread Parliamentary support for reform … the majority of eligible MPs signed up to an EDM supporting libel law reform in the last Parliament. There were general election manifesto commitments to reform from the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, and Labour. Now, there is a coalition Government promise to reform the libel laws in the Queen’s Speech … …But we need new libel laws! In light of Lord Lester’s Bill, the Libel Reform Campaign is asking: will the Government now make clear its plans for reform? Will it support, adopt or develop this Bill? Help us keep the pressure on. Write to your MP asking them what the Government intends to do. Best, Mike and Síle PS - for more details of the bill and complete coverage see www.libelreform.org -- If you do not want to receive any more newsletters, this link To update your preferences and to unsubscribe visit this link Forward a Message to Someone this link _______________________________________________ Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l(a)wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org

On the surface, it looks reasonable for Wikimedia (meaning the WMF primarily, but also WMUK if we ever assist with hosting), as we'd fall straight under 9.1a as a facilitator and hence would clearly not be liable. I have to admit to not being familiar with the details of existing law on this, but presumably it's a lot more unclear.

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Is anyone interested in my doing a Facebook event page for the London meetup on July 4?

Normal? http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetup/London/35 Looking good! Gordo

On 01/07/2010 19:48, Cary Bass wrote:

> So far I have one yes, one no, and one that kind of looks like a yes, > but not.   I can still do an event page, no problem, even only a few > days in advance.

Less than 24 hours to go.....