Blogger Faces Lawsuit Over Comments Posted by Readers – Continued …
Earlier on today I mentioned that I would be following up on a story that I found particularly interesting as I felt that at some point in time or another we, webloggers, may be affected by its developments, depending on how it progresses further. And so I did. I have been following it up and it looks like things are starting to develop quicker than I thought, because by the looks of it Aaron is getting ready to hire a lawyer and get things rolling. At least, that is what you can read from his weblog, where he is also accepting donations from people to help out if there would be a need for it in the near future.
Yes, I mentioned in the previous weblog entry that this particular case is going to get very very interesting as we go ahead, specially when next to all the buzz that is going on out there you bump into the following weblog post by Michael Froomkin: Can Bloggers Be Sued for Commentators’ Postings?. Quite an enlightening reading that proves that there is some light at the end of the tunnel. As I said before, I am not sure how this is going to turn out but one thing for sure is that I hope that Aaron comes out successfully, specially with statements as clear as this one:
“Why a blog with comments would be treated differently from, say, a BBS or a chat room escapes me.”
Thus good luck, Aaron ! All the best ! We are all with you on this one !
For those folks interested in getting a feel of what is happening out there in the Blogosphere about this particular issue here is the Technorati Search, with a special mention to this weblog post by Dave Taylor, owner of The Intuitive Life Business Blog: Comment added to blog leads to inclusion in the Wall Street Journal. A very good read, worth while going through, to show that, despite all the fuss, it is always a good thing to participate in weblogs sharing your comments. It is just a question where the weblogger may need to monitor them closer, a little bit.
Blogger Faces Lawsuit Over Comments Posted by Readers
(Migrated weblog post from LSR)
Yesterday it was kind of a hectic day at work so I hardly had any time to prepare some weblogging material for my external weblog but if there was a particular story that grabbed my attention big time it surely was the article on the World Street Journal about “Blogger Faces Lawsuit Over Comments Posted by Readers”, and which was also referenced in /.: “Blog Faces Lawsuit Over Reader Comments”. Good reads overall if you want to try to get a good overview of what is happening and what people are thinking on this controversial subject.
But if you really want to have a good insight of what is happening I can certainly recommend you take it from the source directly and check out Aaron’s weblog post “Wall Street Journal Mentions Recent Lawsuit”.
The whole situation is something that reminded me why it took me so long to get started with my own external weblog and why, in the end, I decided to go for elsua as my hosting service. Main reason is that I am in control of the whole content that goes into my weblog, whether they are main weblog posts or comments to weblog posts. All of them go through my scanning eyes, first, to make sure that they are very valuable feedback that could benefit us all but at the same time that they do not pose any threat not only for myself but for my potential readers. I know that this may sound a bit silly but from the very beginning I decided that I need to take things under control to the point where there would be a safe environment where everybody would feel welcome and still be themselves participating further.
However, that does not mean that every now and then we may eventually bump into those undesirable cyber-trolls that just want to harm more than help enrich the conversations and allow people to learn from their interactions. So that is why I decided back then to restrict the possibility of who would be adding comments to my weblog posts, which is why people, first, would need to register and, secondly, every single comment goes into an Awaiting Moderation view where I can rather approve, delete or flag them as spam. That way I can try my very best to avoid situations like the one Aaron may be facing over the next few months and I do seriously hope for the best because otherwise the rest of us webloggers will certainly have to think about it twice how much control our audiences would potentially have in order not to harm the weblogger, the comment webloggers and the readers. I know it is a tough decision and it is probably impacting the total readership from my weblog, but as I have already mentioned earlier on elsewhere, I am not maintaining a weblog over here just to increase my readership. I am actually writing in this weblog hoping that a good bunch of readers would find it interesting. If that is the case then I would have fulfilled its purpose but if not that is also just as fine. That is what it takes to democratise the Internet: a voice for everyone.
Over the next few weeks, maybe months, I will certainly be following up on Aaron‘s case to see how it develops and I do sincerely hope that there is an agreement reached soon enough between all parties where everybody wins. We shall see how that goes. Fingers crossed !
IBM and the Future of the Home
Posted on Oct 20, 2005 | Categories: Podcasting | Leave a comment
(Migrated weblog post from LSR)
This is one of those times, folks, where I am actually really glad that I have finally succumbed to the temptation and got my hands on an iPod. It arrived already a week ago and during that time I have been moving my entire music collection and I have just realised that I still have got lots of space for some other goodies. Like the second IBM podcasting: IBM and the Future of the Home.
Isn’t that perfect timing or what ? Earlier on today, IBM has launched the second Podcast and around the topic of The Future of the Home. Here you have got the excerpt of the podcast itself:
“George Bailey and Kevin Reardon are two IBM experts on the consumer-electronics industry. In this IBM podcast, George and Kevin discuss how an explosion of new consumer-electronics gadgets, smart home appliances and home network technologies promise to combine together to change the way our homes work and how we interact with them. First, however, the companies that plan to sell home integration technology and services need to find the right business model for success.”
I have just finished listening to it in my iPod and it is just fascinating how much things have changed over the last couple of decades as far as the household appliances are concerned. Certainly, it is an interesting and refreshing overview of where we are heading with regards to smart homes, amongst other items that you thought were not that important but they actually were, like services, which will become key, or like applying Open Source while using different pieces of software to make it all work. Indeed, fascinating to say the least, and worth while to listen to it.
And now that I have got the iPod I guess I do not have an excuse any longer, right? Indeed, that is what I thought. Anyway, if you really want to know what is actually going to happen with The Future of the Home I can certainly recommend you listen to the podcast. There may be some items that you may agree with or not, but it surely makes up for an enlightening listening !
