Be careful what you say on the net

I've just found this article on the BBC website regarding "Who is responsible for material published on the internet". Responsibility for content on the internet is a gray matter. "All ISPs in England and Wales are prima facie liable for any defamatory material that they know they are carrying, irrespective of where it originated."* In America they have the law to protect them from Libel claims, and this changes from country to country.

The article goes on and says "It is simply an indication that responsible publishing means taking care of what is said on your site, even if you are only the host of a comments page." and "every blogger, site host and community publisher needs to take their role seriously, and keep an eye on what they are publishing" which is true. But what about the comments. Yeah i keep an eye on mine but im lucky if i get 10 comments, take a site like Robert Scobel's, surely he cannot be held responsible for the comments? can he?


* Quote from http://www.netfreedom.org/news.asp?item=70

As a side note, we could all think about hosting our sites at the Principality of Sealand, a sovereign Principality founded off the cost on England in 1967. There they have Haven Co, a truely free market enviroment for hosting sites.