Thursday, June 05, 2003
American journalist challenges Australian Net ruling
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/18/1050172745955.html
2003-04-29 23:22 PDT | 2003-04-30 06:22 GMT
- Jason Cruz
Bill Alpert, a business reporter for Barron’s, is asking the United Nations to decide whether Australian defamation laws can be applied to an article his American magazine posted on its Web site, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. Alpert and his employer, Dow Jones and Company, lost a defamation suit to Australian mining magnate Joe Gutnick in December 2002. Mr. Gutnick filed sued (and won) in Australia -- arguing that it is where his reputation has been damaged. The decision drew worldwide attention as the first case ever to establish international jurisdiction in an online case (see related briefs). Alpert has filed a writ with the UN Humans Rights Commission, claiming that the High Court of Australia has denied his right of free speech. The case is set to be heard in the Supreme Court of Victoria this November.
Barrons: http://www.barrons.com/
UN: http://www.un.org/
Dow Jones: http://www.dowjones.com/
SMH: http://www.smh.com.au/index.html
High Court of Aus: http://www.hcourt.gov.au/
SC of Victoria: http://www.supremecourt.vic.gov.au/
High Court of Australia decision: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/high_ct/2002/56.html
OJC: Previous briefs on the case: http://www.ojr.org/ojc/search/index.php?searchstring=gutnick
[from http://www.onlinejournalism.com.]
# posted by Mark : 15:30
