CSC 379 SUM2008:Week 1, Debate

Debate Topic:

Should website owners and ISPs be held legally responsible for the content they host?

Associated Questions:

• Should some control be imposed to protect anonymous damage to the reputation of organizations or people through laws affecting sites like Juicy Campus and Wikileaks?

• Should defamation laws apply not just to authors, but also to publishers of their work?

• Should publishers who allow for anonymous content submissions be required to police the content they host to prevent certain offenses? If so, which?

• Should they be required to take something down that is false and defamatory? If so, to what degree should one have to prove the content is defamatory?

Associated Links:

Review of Juicy Campus

• http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/18/arts/gossip.php
• http://chronicle.com/free/2008/03/2168n.htm

Review of Wikileaks

• http://www.wired.com/politics/onlinerights/news/2008/07/wikileaks
• http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2007/01/11/wikileaks-whistle.html
• http://www.wikileaks.org/wiki/Wikileaks:About

Review of Defamation and Privacy Law

• http://www.chillingeffects.org/defamation/faq.cgi
• http://www.publishlawyer.com/carousel4.htm