[thelist] re: avoiding getting sued

[Robert Gormley]

> under U.S. law you are better off if you don't review postings.  I
> don't know what the U.K. legal situation would be but if I were in
> your position I would make sure I personally reviewed every posting
> and if in any doubt at all as to the defamatory nature of the posting,
> I would not publish it.  Note: If the posting is TRUE you cannot be
> held liable no matter how defamatory it may appear - but you would
> have the burden of proving it is true.

Ahhh, the joy of international law: your note about truth is not entirely
accurate. Several Australian states hold that "a statement has to be true
and in the public interest -- if what you said was true but not considered
by the court to be in the public interest, you can be successfully sued for
defamation."
(http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmartin/dissent/documents/defamation.html)

Robert