I’m glad to see that there are people who sees my point. There are more and more people when heard about this case had asked me what is a ‘blog’? and what are ‘bloggers’? This is see as a good thing for bloggers as the general public now are more interested in what we (the bloggers are doing).

I tried to explain to them that bloggers are not just trouble makers and whistle blowers. There are a lot of other type of blogs.

I agree with Jibone that the Internet doesn’t exist in a legal vacuum. The Internet is just like any other medium. How can anyone say the Internet is free when the media on it is stored on servers located somewhere and transmitted through cables connecting these servers? The media on these servers end up complying with laws in the countries they’re located in. The authors of these media must also comply with the laws of their countries.

If the Internet is free, does that make credit card scamming, phishing and all that other online nonsense legal? What about child pornography on the Internet. Would that be free as well?

MENJ, If you mean free as in free access to the Internet, then yes it’s free in that sense. But it’s not a place where you can freely slander someone and spread lies and not expect someone to sue you later. We bloggers should just be careful with what we say and make sure we can back up what we write with facts. Similarly, we are free to speak, free to write but don’t expect to be able to freely spread lies and offend people without reaping the consequences.

People can sue you no matter what media you use. The Internet is no different. Look at how many journalists have been sued in the past. The only people who are afraid of being sued are people who can’t defend their words with evidence. Whether or not these lawsuits mean anything is up to the judiciary elements. If your conscience is clear and you have evidence to back your words up, there is nothing to fear. Whether Jeff Ooi and Rockybru are confident for these reasons is something that the court proceedings will reveal. I wish them luck in their case.

I think what J is trying to say at the end of the day is that bloggers have to be responsible. Knowning some background about J, I can see why he’s excited that blogging is becoming mainstream. But to be mainstream is also to be respected and trusted, hence bloggers have to be responsible.

Like J, I also have not been following Jeff and Rocky’s case. I’m politically apathetical, I admit it, but I still feel that sometimes political bloggers try to get their points across by stirring the hornets nest and being sensationalistic.

In any case, I’m glad that this case has brought the public attention to blogs. However I’m not so worried that people will get the impression that bloggers are a bunch of trouble makers. All the cool kids blog now and by the time they’re adults, blogs and blogging will be mainstream like magazines on the newsstand.

You can’t go suing around based on something you do not agree with.

Companies and corporation take legal action only if they could prove whatever you write has a slanderous intention that tries to defame an image of a corporation or an individual by calming or creating false facts. If however you think that your facts are legitimate, you should not have anything to worry.

“And on the WWW, the Internet is supposed to be free.”

Again I would like to stress out that nothing is FREE, everything comes with a price.

The internet is not free. There are materials that will get you in trouble if you were found posting or distributing it online. Materials such as child pornography or copyrighted materials, software, video, music that you do not have the right to distribute, you can’t post it.

Thanks,

Well someone must be the bigger person and be responsible. Why not the bloggers?

About 15-year-old saying something silly, well first of, they are 15 years old after all, and I do think parents do teach their children not to say things that are false, in order to defame someone.

If this suit serves to intimidate bloggers, well it doesn’t work on me.

Thanks again for visiting.

- MENJ

agree with most but i thikn the matter here is an irresponsible govt calling us to be responsible. it’s quite ludicrous.

i totally agree with what you say about freedom of speech but this case is complicated by the fact that its BIG MONEY vs small fry. imagine a 15-yr-old saying something silly and they take action~~~

i think this suit serves to educate bloggers but we cannot stand for this kind of indirect intimidation.

i did not put the bloggers united press statement up on my blog but their logo is there. they represent those who dare to voice their opinions against the big boys, whether there were libelous statements, the court will decide.

i don’t support the movement as i believe in responsible blogging but i support jeff + rocky individually as they are bloggers just like us. in times like these it’s only by sticking out for each other that we can fight the big guns

peace nice blog, i’ll be back.