[Fwd: Stop the Dangerous Blogs Bill]

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-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Stop the Dangerous Blogs Bill
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2013 09:15:40 -0400 (EDT)
From: Jim Killock - ORG <jim.killock@action.openrightsgroup.org>

Dear Nathan,

Lord Leveson's regulations are being applied to UK websites - in ways 
that could catch more or less anyone who publishes a blog. Ordinary 
bloggers could be threatened with exemplary damages and costs. If this 
happens, small website publishers will face terrible risks, or 
burdensome regulation -€“ and many may simply stop publishing.

We have until Monday to stop this happening. Act now

http://www.openrightsgroup.org/campaigns/leveson

Lord Leveson said he wanted to regulate print media. He proposed that 
judges  be allowed to award exemplary damages and full costs against 
unregulated publishers. These are stringent and controversial measures, 
but he only envisaged them applying to large and powerful publishers. 
Not websites, unless they belonged to print publishers.

Last weekend, the proposals were agreed in a rush, without public 
consultation, and with no attention to the detail.

Outrageously, they have given the Lords until Monday to fix their mistakes.

http://www.openrightsgroup.org/campaigns/leveson

The result is that they apply to any size of web publisher – if 
there'€™s more than one author, the content is edited and there's a 
business involved, then you must join a self regulator.

Most blogs like this aren'€™t powerful publishing houses. Even ORGZine 
would need to be regulated, or face punitive measures if it ended up in 
court.

The threat of websites being regulated like this was never the purpose 
of Lord Leveson'€™s recommendations. Websites weren’t involved in 
phone hacking. There is no evidence that they need to be forced into 
self-regulation like this.

We need you to email Nick Clegg, Harriet Harman, and David Cameron to 
ask them to back off and leave the Internet out of Leveson.

http://www.openrightsgroup.org/campaigns/leveson


Yours,

Jim Killock
Executive Director, Open Rights Group


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Received on Friday, 22 March 2013 13:49:00 UTC