A Complaint From Geraldine Dreadful MP
-
Geraldine Dreadful MP has written me a letter rightly taking me to task for
my interview with Nick Griffin. Read it HERE.
3 hours ago
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Jack out of the Box
The blog world is in uproar over the decision of the England and Wales High Court to not prevent the Times from revealing the identity of the anonymous blogger Night Jack , which led to the revealation that Night Jack was Detective Inspector Richard Horton and issuance of a written warning to him by the Lancashire constabulary. Mr. Horton has since deleted the blog, which was the winner of the prestigious Orwell award.
There is a lot of commentary on this issue already see here
; here; and here; including a Labour MP who came out in support of the “right to remain anonymous” which in the opinion of Justice Eady, who delivered the judgement in The Author of a Blog v Times News Paper Limited [2009] EWHC 1358 (QB) does not exist.
The facts are now well known. The Times, through "investigative journalism" had identified the blogger named as Night Jack. Night Jack sought an interim injunction to prevent the Times from revealing his identity. His lawyers based their case on their client's rights under Article 8 (right to privacy) and Article 10 (right to freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, 1950.
However, Justice Eady states that in order to attract the application of the above provisions the Claimant would have to establish that he had a reasonable expectation to privacy in relation to the particular information in question. It is only if (i) is achieved would it be necessary to inquire whether there is some countervailing public interest such as to justify overriding the prima facie right.
In the judge's opinion, the Claimant failed to establish a pre-existing relationship of confidence which prevented Times from revealing the information since there is no "public interest in preserving the anonymity of bloggers”. Simplistically, the judge concluded that: “blogging is essentially a public rather than private activity”.
Once the Claimant’s case failed with respect to (i), i.e. the blogger never had a right to privacy, which the Times was required to respect, it was not necessary to go into whether (ii) is satisfied, although the judge did go into the question of whether by blogging, Night Jack had violated his duties under the Police (Conduct) Regulations, 2008.
The key conclusion following from the judgement is that bloggers have no right to privacy or right to anonymity. If their identity is discovered through “detective work” (and therefore not in a manner which amounts to breach of confidence or law, although how this distinction will be made remains uncertain) then the discoverer has the right to reveal the same. The only exception is where the blogger is able to establish that there is an overwhelming public interest in the revelation not being made (for e.g., if it compromises a policeman blogger who works undercover).
The judgement is, as the Claimant’s lawyers put it, “chilling”. Private bloggers, even if they are not civil servants, police officers or other government employees whose terms of employment do not prevent them from expressing opinions, are still not protected by the right to privacy. The assumption that the moment a blogger makes a public post, he loses the right to privacy, since it becomes a public activity, is, to my mind simplistic, and certainly does not examine all nuances of such a situation, It also does not change the fundamental principle of privacy law, that it is for the individual to judge how much information about himself he wants to be made public. In this case, whatever the Court's reasoning, there is no doubt that this rights has been denied.
The notion that the public had the right to know the identity of the blogger, so that they could assess the quality and reliability of his commentary is also presumptuous. It is for the public to decide what they want to rely on. If they choose to rely on commentary by someone who does not want to be named, it is entirely their prerogative, if they want inside information from FakeIPLPlayer, that again is entirely their prerogative.
An anonymous blogger is analogous to a journalist's source, for the blogger he is his own source. Just like the journalist has the right to protect his sources (including within the police force), the blogger should have a right to protect his identity. Unfortunately, this was not something that the Court considered.
Finally, if it is true that the blogger is violating the rules of his service, then it is for the employers to track him down and take action, not for newspapers to go on a witch hunt.
There is a lot of commentary on this issue already see here
; here; and here; including a Labour MP who came out in support of the “right to remain anonymous” which in the opinion of Justice Eady, who delivered the judgement in The Author of a Blog v Times News Paper Limited [2009] EWHC 1358 (QB) does not exist.
The facts are now well known. The Times, through "investigative journalism" had identified the blogger named as Night Jack. Night Jack sought an interim injunction to prevent the Times from revealing his identity. His lawyers based their case on their client's rights under Article 8 (right to privacy) and Article 10 (right to freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, 1950.
However, Justice Eady states that in order to attract the application of the above provisions the Claimant would have to establish that he had a reasonable expectation to privacy in relation to the particular information in question. It is only if (i) is achieved would it be necessary to inquire whether there is some countervailing public interest such as to justify overriding the prima facie right.
In the judge's opinion, the Claimant failed to establish a pre-existing relationship of confidence which prevented Times from revealing the information since there is no "public interest in preserving the anonymity of bloggers”. Simplistically, the judge concluded that: “blogging is essentially a public rather than private activity”.
Once the Claimant’s case failed with respect to (i), i.e. the blogger never had a right to privacy, which the Times was required to respect, it was not necessary to go into whether (ii) is satisfied, although the judge did go into the question of whether by blogging, Night Jack had violated his duties under the Police (Conduct) Regulations, 2008.
The key conclusion following from the judgement is that bloggers have no right to privacy or right to anonymity. If their identity is discovered through “detective work” (and therefore not in a manner which amounts to breach of confidence or law, although how this distinction will be made remains uncertain) then the discoverer has the right to reveal the same. The only exception is where the blogger is able to establish that there is an overwhelming public interest in the revelation not being made (for e.g., if it compromises a policeman blogger who works undercover).
The judgement is, as the Claimant’s lawyers put it, “chilling”. Private bloggers, even if they are not civil servants, police officers or other government employees whose terms of employment do not prevent them from expressing opinions, are still not protected by the right to privacy. The assumption that the moment a blogger makes a public post, he loses the right to privacy, since it becomes a public activity, is, to my mind simplistic, and certainly does not examine all nuances of such a situation, It also does not change the fundamental principle of privacy law, that it is for the individual to judge how much information about himself he wants to be made public. In this case, whatever the Court's reasoning, there is no doubt that this rights has been denied.
The notion that the public had the right to know the identity of the blogger, so that they could assess the quality and reliability of his commentary is also presumptuous. It is for the public to decide what they want to rely on. If they choose to rely on commentary by someone who does not want to be named, it is entirely their prerogative, if they want inside information from FakeIPLPlayer, that again is entirely their prerogative.
An anonymous blogger is analogous to a journalist's source, for the blogger he is his own source. Just like the journalist has the right to protect his sources (including within the police force), the blogger should have a right to protect his identity. Unfortunately, this was not something that the Court considered.
Finally, if it is true that the blogger is violating the rules of his service, then it is for the employers to track him down and take action, not for newspapers to go on a witch hunt.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Reverse Swing
"It's interesting to see each other's balls. Mine's, one side is a little bit rougher than Ben Hilfenhaus."
Mitchell Johnson, Jun 15, 2009
Whoa!!!!
Friday, June 19, 2009
20-20 Vision
Jay Mehta, co-owner of the franchise, said.
"I would like to state that John is a great coach. He had a vision for Knight Riders and did not waver from this vision. Unfortunately, it has not brought the results that are so necessary to this franchise."
Batsman 1: "So how was batting?"
Batsman 2 (recently dismissed): "Fantastic... the first one I drove firmly, the second one I pulled, glance, square-cut, cover drive... everything clicked..."
Batsman 1: "So how much did you score?"
Batsman 2: (sheepish): "Two"
Batsman 1: "Whoa.... so many shots... and only two?
Batsman 2 (more sheepish): "What to do, the Fielders held on to everything..."
[Link Here]
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Where have all the intellectuals gone?
Where have you gone, o Bengali intellectuals.... o defenders of the poor and downtrodden... o champions of Nandigram.... protectors of human rights...
Where are you when the body of 65 year old Shaflu Soren lies for 6 days, where his brothers are terrified to approach it? [http://www.indianexpress.com/news/in-maoist-violence-against-cpm-tmc-cong-give-outside-support/477698/]
Whither Joy Goswami? Whither Mahashweta Devi? Is this not terror? Is this not tyranny? Where is human dignity today?
Where are all my friends in orkut who painted their profiles black for Nandigram? why are your faces beaming back at me today?
Whither Star Ananda? Is this not news?
Is this the Bengal you want to inherit? You are welcome to it...
Where are you when the body of 65 year old Shaflu Soren lies for 6 days, where his brothers are terrified to approach it? [http://www.indianexpress.com/news/in-maoist-violence-against-cpm-tmc-cong-give-outside-support/477698/]
Whither Joy Goswami? Whither Mahashweta Devi? Is this not terror? Is this not tyranny? Where is human dignity today?
Where are all my friends in orkut who painted their profiles black for Nandigram? why are your faces beaming back at me today?
Whither Star Ananda? Is this not news?
Is this the Bengal you want to inherit? You are welcome to it...
Monday, June 15, 2009
A Matter of Honour
The defending champions are out of the World Cup... the glamour team... the team with the Megastars... the fearless hitters ... are knocked out in the Super 8s...
Not much of a shame in the defeat... this is T-20 after all.. all the more uncertain in the game of glorious uncertainty...
After the match... the camera panned into the crowd... there were a few sad faces... Indian supporters... but the moment the camera was on them... they smiled and waved...
My mind went back to 2006... the quarter finals of the FIFA World Cup, where a moment of Zidane brilliance, one strike by Thierry Henry meant that Brazil were out of the World Cup... row after row of tearful faces... the yellow and green war paint running as tears streamed down... heads bowed ... faces covered...
You become World Champions by having pride in your team... not by waving at the camera when they just got knocked out of the only tournament in recent memory where they were defending champions...
Not much of a shame in the defeat... this is T-20 after all.. all the more uncertain in the game of glorious uncertainty...
After the match... the camera panned into the crowd... there were a few sad faces... Indian supporters... but the moment the camera was on them... they smiled and waved...
My mind went back to 2006... the quarter finals of the FIFA World Cup, where a moment of Zidane brilliance, one strike by Thierry Henry meant that Brazil were out of the World Cup... row after row of tearful faces... the yellow and green war paint running as tears streamed down... heads bowed ... faces covered...
You become World Champions by having pride in your team... not by waving at the camera when they just got knocked out of the only tournament in recent memory where they were defending champions...
Monday, June 08, 2009
Mr Friend Sancho
Why I liked Amit Verma’s “My Friend Sancho”:
(i) I identify with the protagonist, his love for books and food, his 1 BHK in Mumbai… etc. etc. ok a thousand others probably identify with him as well…
(ii) It does not pretend to be a serious book… The theme, Hindu police killing innocent Muslim man etc. did have the potential to get serious…. But Verma skips around that… and there is a wacky sense of humour … which I really liked… its was a bit like Samit’s Simoquin Prophesies….
(iii) I could finish it in one day… which is gradually becoming the number one characteristic I look for in a book….
(iv) The protagonist has the same name as I do …. Beat that thousand others….
What I did not like…. The fact that the protagonist read’s Amit’s blog… nothing wrong with that… I read Amit’s blog as well…. But seemed a little odd to have your protagonist read your own blog….
All in all, as newspaper reviews will say… “a fresh new voice”… I just hope he does not go the way of Chetan Bhagat or Vikas Swarup….
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Goodbye Charismatic Megafauna
Macleodgunj was an odd place to make friends in… odder still since you were no bigger than my hand… but friends we made… for a lifetime…
We named you Gadfly, me and my friends… in remembrance of our Environmental Law teacher, who characterized every Indian environmental activist as one…. You were, in his words, “charismatic megafauna”...
You howled and howled from Mughalsarai to Delhi…. You made me run in the rain to find a basket for you… and you refused to stay in the basket for a second…
Before boarding the train from Delhi, I fed you two sleeping tablets… how I worried that those tablets would harm you… how wrong I was…. If anything the tablets made you more awake … and I had to spend the night in the bathroom… dozing off … while you scampered at my feet….
You won hearts… from mountain mongrel to well, moderately behaved house dog… you won many hearts….
And yet, always, you were Gadfly… persistent, stimulating, un-ignorable…
I saw you once a year… and played with you one hour in my day… never thought of sitting down beside you and spending time… never… till today… tears rolling down my cheek… I want to feel your big head on my lap… and those lovely lovely eyes... I regret that I could not be with you more… regret oh so much…
Ma knew you more than I did… and today… she is missing you as much as I am….
I hope you did not suffer too much…. Being the brave heart you were, you never let us know….
Goodbye… friend… and hope where you are there are green fields to romp in… and cats to chase… and rats to catch… and dirt to roll over in… and may you have sweets to eat everyday… and a girlfriend or two… be in peace…. dearest Gadu…
We named you Gadfly, me and my friends… in remembrance of our Environmental Law teacher, who characterized every Indian environmental activist as one…. You were, in his words, “charismatic megafauna”...
You howled and howled from Mughalsarai to Delhi…. You made me run in the rain to find a basket for you… and you refused to stay in the basket for a second…
Before boarding the train from Delhi, I fed you two sleeping tablets… how I worried that those tablets would harm you… how wrong I was…. If anything the tablets made you more awake … and I had to spend the night in the bathroom… dozing off … while you scampered at my feet….
You won hearts… from mountain mongrel to well, moderately behaved house dog… you won many hearts….
And yet, always, you were Gadfly… persistent, stimulating, un-ignorable…
I saw you once a year… and played with you one hour in my day… never thought of sitting down beside you and spending time… never… till today… tears rolling down my cheek… I want to feel your big head on my lap… and those lovely lovely eyes... I regret that I could not be with you more… regret oh so much…
Ma knew you more than I did… and today… she is missing you as much as I am….
I hope you did not suffer too much…. Being the brave heart you were, you never let us know….
Goodbye… friend… and hope where you are there are green fields to romp in… and cats to chase… and rats to catch… and dirt to roll over in… and may you have sweets to eat everyday… and a girlfriend or two… be in peace…. dearest Gadu…
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