Australian-Media.com.au News

• Online free speech under threat as Whirlpool founder is sued

  September 12 2007 6:46pm (UTC+8)  -  Article by Kevin

  
  SPECIAL REPORT | Simon Wright, the founder of Whirlpool - Australia's leading broadband discussion forum - is being sued by accounting software company 2Clix Australia, after a series of negative posts about the company were posted by users on the Whirlpool forums.
  
  2Clix is suing Mr Wright for at least $150,000 (plus legal costs) and is demanding that two forum threads be removed from the site.
  
  The company alleges that Mr Wright allowed "false and malicious" comments about the company to remain on Whirlpool, despite apparent requests for the comments to be removed.
  
  Whirlpool has posted a statement on its website and says that it "believes the action has no merit and will defend the matter vigorously, despite being a community website with little resources".
  
  "A lot hangs in the balance here", Mr Wright told News.com.au today.
  
  He continued by saying "This goes beyond Whirlpool, or indeed communities in general. It affects the viability of all internet discussion, from blogs to product reviews on Amazon."
  
  Whirlpool has almost 190,000 members, and many have come to the defence of the site. News of the legal action was posted on Whirlpool last night, and since then almost 3,000 comments have been posted by members in support of the site. Many users have also donated money to Mr Wright to help with legal costs.
  
  One notable mention is Whirlpool member "Pleiades", who has donated $1,254 to Mr Wright which he says is "$1 for each post I've made on Whirlpool".
  
  Bevan Slattery, the Managing Director of PIPE Networks, Australia's largest peering provider has also publicly stated that he will "personally pledge $10,000 towards their legal fund if required by form of conditional donation."
  
  The outcome of this case will affect every website in Australia that allows the public to comment on issues relating to a product, service and/or company. Should Mr Wright lose this case, online free speech in Australia will almost certainly come to halt as website owners scramble to protect themselves from being personally liable for comments they did not make.
  
  The Australian Press Council raised this issue earlier this year, stating that "a healthy democracy thrives on free discussion and debate involving as wide a range of people as possible."
  
  "The evolution of the Internet has facilitated a dramatic growth in the number and range of people who are able to participate in open debate on a range of issues. The development of the online forum, often in conjunction with a weblog, is of particular significance in this flourishing of public debate."
  
  "The online forum has transformed the consumption of media content from a passive activity to a vibrant exchange of views analogous to the vigorous debates that once took place upon soapboxes in public squares, in London's Hyde Park or in Sydney's Domain."
  
  The Press Council "urges the Australian government to reform the Broadcasting Services Act in order to ensure that publishers are not exposed to excessive risk in relation to material that they have not authored."
  
  "There is no doubt that the party who submits a defamatory comment to one of these websites is liable."
  
  "A person who objects to discussion about them in a user forum may seek to shut down debate by commencing action for libel or threatening to do so."
  
  "The lack of protection against liability with respect to user-uploaded comment facilitates the stifling of public debate."
  
  The Department of Immigration and Citizenship says that "Australians are free, within the bounds of the law, to say or write what we think privately or publicly, about the government, or about any topic. We do not censor the media and may criticise the government without fear of arrest."
  
  "Free speech comes from facts, not rumours, and the intention must be constructive, not to do harm."
  
  "There are laws to protect a person's good name and integrity against false information. There are laws against saying or writing things to incite hatred against others because of their culture, ethnicity or background."
  
  "Freedom of speech is not an excuse to harm others."
  
  Australian-Media.com.au

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