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Dyson says
he does not believe that there are enough laws in place to fully
protect editors from prosecution over online news and says that
at a recent forum for editors in London, attended by the justice
secretary, Jack Straw, the topic arose that software has been
developed to browse search engines, using key words to find
news which the user can then use to prosecute publications.
Apparently Straw was so incensed by this news that he has vowed
to review the law covering the matter.
In terms
of the legal ramifications for the use of news online, Campbell
Deane, a partner at solicitors Bannatyne Kirkwood France – a
firm specialising in media law – says that the decision over
the removal of news online is down to the editor of a publication.
However, he believes a more significant legal issue is the right
to privacy which is afforded by UK citizens by law and how those
rules have been altered since the introduction of online news
reporting.
These could
be especially harmful to ‘Red Top' tabloids, he says.
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“The limitation
period for raising an action in respect of privacy as a personal
injury action would be three years,” Deane explains.
Sexual
encounter
“Look at the Max Mosley story and consider his privacy, particularly
in relation to Mr Justice Eadie who, in November of last year,
said that what goes on in a man's home is private. So any sexual
encounter whether paid for or not, is a private matter. Now,
I'm sure if you went through the News of the World's archive
– or any paper's archive – over a period of three years then
there will be many stories there from many individuals who would
have a right of action which the law now affords them where
previously it wouldn't have.”
Local newspapers
will also need to be wary of changes through online news delivery,
as Deane highlights. If a newspaper were to report a story,
it could only be sued within the country that story was published.
Now, with online, news is international and can be heard in
the court of any country that the story has been downloaded.
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Also, if
heard in London , the fees for such a case could be astronomical
for a local paper. “Local newspapers really need to be careful,
no matter what they write. What used to be tomorrow's fish and
chip wrappers is now there forever,” he concludes.
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