I thought this may be of interest to any Left group which has a web page hosted by a commercial company. John Walker ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 14:38:22 +0100 From: "OutRage!" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [or-britisles] GAGGED: Gay magazine censored by NetBenefit PLC Press Release For immediate use - 30th March 2000 GAGGED: Community magazine's website censored by Pink Paper publishers and NetBenefit PLC Lawyers acting for Chronos Publishing Limited have succeeded in censoring Outcast magazine's website because they claim an article *might* be published on the site at some point in the future, and that such an article *might* be critical of their client. The remarkable announcement was made yesterday evening by NetBenefit PLC, the company which currently hosts the website. The company says it was warned by Mischon de Reya solicitors that it would be jointly liable for any defamatory content that was published by Outcast, and decided take preventative action. In a letter to the magazine's editor, NetBenefit said: "While reserving our rights, under our terms and conditions, to suspend your site without notice at any time, we advise you that we will suspend your website with effect from 6pm today unless we receive from your solicitors written assurance that the entire content of your website does not contain any defamatory material." That letter arrived at 4pm yesterday, two hours before the 6pm deadline, although the warning letter from Mishcon de Reya was sent to NetBenefit nearly two weeks ago. Outcast - a small community-run publication - could not afford a solicitor who could give the necessary assurance at such short notice, so the website was shut down at 7pm. Outcast's editor, Chris Morris, said today: "This precedent appears to allow any firm of solicitors to censor a magazine's entire website because they are concerned about one article - an article which they haven't even seen, because it hasn't yet been published. "NetBenefit has over-reacted to the Demon net libel case. As would most big Internet companies, they have decided to side with the big, rich firm of solicitors against a small community-run magazine, because it is easier and less risky for them to do so. That is very worrying for anyone who believes in debate and free speech." Further information: Chris Morris, 020-8354 0790 Notes to editors: - Outcast is a queer current affairs magazine run by a group of volunteers. Contributors include Peter Tatchell, Ken Livingstone MP, David Borrow MP, Paul Burston, Mark Simpson, Chas Newkey-Burden and many other well-known writers. - The case of Laurence Godfrey v Demon Internet, settled out of court today, is expected to prompt legislation that states ISPs are not responsible for the content of the e-mail accounts, newsgroups or websites they host. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Get a NextCard Visa, in 30 seconds! 1. Fill in the brief application 2. Receive approval decision within 30 seconds 3. Get rates as low as 2.9% Intro or 9.9% Fixed APR Apply NOW! http://click.egroups.com/1/2646/7/_/628620/_/954423716/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Community email addresses: Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner: [EMAIL PROTECTED] URL's: http://www.outrage.org.uk http://www.onelist.com/community/or-britisles --- from list [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---
