Landmark ruling rocks web publishers

Internet publishers around the world have reacted with alarm to an Australian High Court ruling today (10 December 2002) that effectively makes them liable to be sued in Australia for defamatory articles posted on the internet overseas.

Following the ruling, financial news publisher Dow Jones looks set to be sued in the Australian state of Victoria for an article that was published on its US-based web site.

The court found in favour of Melbourne mining magnate Joseph Gutnik, who wanted to sue the news wire company in Melbourne for an article posted on its web site in New Jersey in the US.

Dow Jones wanted the case to be heard in New Jersey, arguing that courts in Victoria had no jursidiction. Their case was backed by several international media companies including Reuters, News International and Amazon.com.

The judgment could now become a benchmark for other countries, particularly those with similar legal systems.

"It will certainly be re-established that the net is no different than a regular newspaper, that you have to be careful what you write and if you offend somebody or write malicious statements about people... then you can be subject to being prosecuted," Mr Gutnik said.

Dow Jones intends to continue to defend the action.

Sources:
BBC online
The Australian

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