(no subject)
Please sign the libel reform petition if you haven't already - I have, to protect people making legitimate statements from the chilling effect of our costly libel laws - and also because I think libel tourism makes England a laughing stock, and I'd rather it wasn't.
Simon Singh, an excellent advocate of science, is being sued for calling chiropracty bogus - a perfectly valid opinion and, it turns out, demonstrably true that the science behind it is bogus, but his case continues as it has been deemed that he is suggesting that the British Chiropractic Assocation are being conscionably dishonest.
Anyway, he gives the following great reasons for signing
(a) English libel laws have been condemned by the UN Human Rights Committee.
(b) These laws gag scientists, bloggers and journalists who want to discuss matters of genuine public interest (and public health!).
(c) Our laws give rise to libel tourism, whereby the rich and the powerful (Saudi billionaires, Russian oligarchs and overseas corporations) come to London to sue writers because English libel laws are so hostile to responsible journalism. (In fact, it is exactly because English libel laws have this global impact that we welcome signatories to the petition from around the world.)
(d) Vested interests can use their resources to bully and intimidate those who seek to question them. The cost of a libel trial in England is 100 times more expensive than the European average and typically runs to over £1 million.
(e) Three separate ongoing libel cases involve myself and two medical researchers raising concerns about three medical treatments. We face losing £1 million each. In future, why would anyone else raise similar concerns? If these health matters are not reported, then the public is put at risk.
Simon Singh, an excellent advocate of science, is being sued for calling chiropracty bogus - a perfectly valid opinion and, it turns out, demonstrably true that the science behind it is bogus, but his case continues as it has been deemed that he is suggesting that the British Chiropractic Assocation are being conscionably dishonest.
Anyway, he gives the following great reasons for signing
(a) English libel laws have been condemned by the UN Human Rights Committee.
(b) These laws gag scientists, bloggers and journalists who want to discuss matters of genuine public interest (and public health!).
(c) Our laws give rise to libel tourism, whereby the rich and the powerful (Saudi billionaires, Russian oligarchs and overseas corporations) come to London to sue writers because English libel laws are so hostile to responsible journalism. (In fact, it is exactly because English libel laws have this global impact that we welcome signatories to the petition from around the world.)
(d) Vested interests can use their resources to bully and intimidate those who seek to question them. The cost of a libel trial in England is 100 times more expensive than the European average and typically runs to over £1 million.
(e) Three separate ongoing libel cases involve myself and two medical researchers raising concerns about three medical treatments. We face losing £1 million each. In future, why would anyone else raise similar concerns? If these health matters are not reported, then the public is put at risk.