Blogs come of age

I've just been reading comments about people being sacked or sued for what they've written in their "blogs" - daily diaries.We should all be aware - if we write something we shouldn't, and put it up online even in a really obsure place, it will be found.

So when I write here, I need to review for copyright, libel, incitement, invasion of privacy, official secrets and decency to ensure I'm within the law of (well - is it the UK law where I'm posting from, or the USA law where the server is located). Then I need to ensure that I'm writing within what's allowed by my contract of employment, by the Acceptable User Policy of my ISP, and and other civil torts through which I'm limited. If it's part of a commercial operation (as this page is), I need to consider disability access. And it's quite a good idea for me to review my posts to ensure that they're not boring, repetitititive, smug, or showing me up as a complete wally.

Is there a complete source showing all these consideration? Probably not; I have attempted to put together pointers on these issues with regard to web site content, and that information is available for download as a pdf too.
(written 2005-01-14, updated 2006-06-05)

Commentator	says ...
Bruce James:	Surely (in english law at least) if it's an opinion, you're allowed to have it even if it is potentially libellous. Copyright is a different issue of course. I think 'parody' is acceptable. Any lawyers out there? (comment added 2005-01-14 09:45:09)
Graham:	Yes, I think you're right, Bruce. You're allowed an opinion and you may also state your opinion (provided that you make it clear that it's an opinion and not fact) provided it's not (example) inciting a crime. Having an opinion that your boss is incompetent is fine, but an unwise thing to post in case he finds out - and it's getting more likely that we would these days. Copyright - I understand that short segments reproduced for "critical review" are fine, a short segment generally considered to be a few hundred words or less. I'm NOT a lawyer ... it's my opinion that most of them would want to charge for their advise ;-) ..... ((but actually we have a good lawyer we use on the very rare occasions that we need to)) (comment added 2005-01-16 04:07:33)

2406

Associated topics are indexed under

G905 - Well House Consultants - Blogging and Blog Administration
  [4000] 9 years, and 4000 articles on - (2013-02-09)
  [3759] The five oldest blogs and the horses mouth - (2012-06-09)
  [3514] Microblogging - what I should have tweeted in the last 48 hours - (2011-11-10)
  [3208] Links for social media, microblogs and business networking - (2011-03-20)
  [3186] How to add a customised twitter feed to your site - (2011-02-27)
  [3163] Twitter - the special use of @ # and http: in tweets - (2011-02-09)
  [3016] The legal considerations of your web presence - revisited - (2010-10-26)
  [2823] Where have all the bloggers gone? - (2010-06-24)
  [2751] Going off at a tangent, for a ramble - (2010-05-04)
  [2564] Microblogging services - Plurk, Twitter, Jaiku and more - (2010-01-05)
  [2517] Blogging accuracy - open invitation for any corrections - (2009-11-29)
  [2449] Four aspects - Chamber, Transport, Courses and Hotel - (2009-10-11)
  [2192] Copy writing - allowing for the cut - (2009-05-21)
  [2000] 2000th article - Remember the background and basics - (2009-01-18)
  [1978] From spam to mod_alias - finding resources - (2009-01-05)
  [1203] A Fresh horse - (2007-05-24)
  [1077] In answer to 'am I glad I started a blog' ... - (2007-02-12)
  [1000] One Thousand Posts and still going strong - (2006-12-18)
  [876] Making pages clearer - easy Disability Discrimination Act Compliance - (2006-09-23)
  [671] Both ends of the animal - (2006-04-05)
  [508] Comment, please! - (2005-11-28)
  [425] Caching an XML feed - (2005-08-26)
  [410] Reading a news or blog feed (RSS) in your PHP page - (2005-08-12)
  [405] Horse's Mouth is a year old - (2005-08-07)
  [390] Moderating wiki, blog, and forum contributions - (2005-07-26)
  [359] Chicken soup without the religion - (2005-06-26)
  [245] I'm not blogging it - (2005-03-14)
  [231] Feedback as lifeblood - (2005-02-28)
  [204] The confidence to allow public comments - (2005-02-06)
  [185] Who am I? - (2005-01-21)
  [145] A comment on comments - (2004-12-09)
  [141] Too technical? - (2004-12-05)
  [18] Wanted: More hours in the day - (2004-08-18)
  [6] Blog v Forum - (2004-08-07)
  [1] First Jottings - (2004-08-05)

Back to
Extra chips

Previous and next
or
Horse's mouth home

Forward to
Calling a spade a spade

Some other Articles

Maximum number of trainees on a course
Skunk works
The hunt for unique words
Calling a spade a spade
Blogs come of age
Extra chips
Worthwhile
Contrast - the storm and the calm.
Data Mining
Public courses in London