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For 2023 (and 2024 ...) - we are now fully retired from IT training.
We have made many, many friends over 25 years of teaching about Python, Tcl, Perl, PHP, Lua, Java, C and C++ - and MySQL, Linux and Solaris/SunOS too. Our training notes are now very much out of date, but due to upward compatability most of our examples remain operational and even relevant ad you are welcome to make us if them "as seen" and at your own risk.

Lisa and I (Graham) now live in what was our training centre in Melksham - happy to meet with former delegates here - but do check ahead before coming round. We are far from inactive - rather, enjoying the times that we are retired but still healthy enough in mind and body to be active!

I am also active in many other area and still look after a lot of web sites - you can find an index ((here))
Change to Libel and Defamation laws from 1st January 2014

The Defamation Act of 2013 - http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2012-13/defamation.html - comes into force at midnight tonight (31st December 2013)

"The aim of the Bill is to reform the law of defamation to ensure that a fair balance is struck between the right to freedom of expression and the protection of reputation. The Bill makes a number of substantive changes to the law of defamation, but is not designed to codify the law into a single statute."

In particular, it's said to be trying to allow more comment to be made on blogs, forums and other social media without fear of reactions from the person / people / companies who feel critisized to excess and with disproportionate effect - "I don't like what you said, so I'll make life very difficult for you..." - in other words to improve 'freedom of speech'. It's also said to be removing the ability for libels committed outside the UK to be tried here - cutting down on or out on "libel tourism".

Key areas ... the bill / law

* includes a requirement for claimants to show that they have suffered serious harm before suing for defamation
* removes the current presumption in favour of a jury trial
* introduces a defence of "responsible publication on matters of public interest"
* provides increased protection to operators of websites that host user-generated content, providing they comply with the procedure to enable the complainant to resolve disputes directly with the author of the material concerned
* introduces new statutory defences of truth and honest opinion to replace the common law defences of justification and fair comment.

More from this at the BBC - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-2555164

Claimants will have to show they have suffered "serious harm" before suing, under the Defamation Act 2013.

The changes - coming in on 1 January - will also address "libel tourism".

The government said the law would reverse the "chilling effect" current libel laws have had on freedom of expression and legitimate debate.

Journalists, scientists and academics have faced unfair legal threats for fairly criticising a company, person or product in the past, the Ministry of Justice said.

It said the Act, in force from Wednesday, would provide "clearer, better protection for people publicly expressing opinions", while campaigners said it was "good news for free speech" but urged Northern Ireland to follow suit.


Please note - I am not a legal expert and I post this information to make readers aware of the thrust of the changes. You should not rely on what I've written to be the complete or accurate story, but rather should check individual circumstances with a professional adviser.
(written 2013-12-31, updated 2014-01-03)

 
Associated topics are indexed as below, or enter http://melksh.am/nnnn for individual articles
G903 - Well House Consultants - Running and moderating forums and social media sites
  [22] Falling out over the silliest things - (2004-08-21)
  [29] Silence is Golden - (2004-08-26)
  [115] Expiration dates or times on web pages - (2004-11-12)
  [130] Spelling and grammar - (2004-11-25)
  [204] The confidence to allow public comments - (2005-02-06)
  [231] Feedback as lifeblood - (2005-02-28)
  [248] Use me, but use me effectively - (2005-03-16)
  [424] How not to run a forum - (2005-08-24)
  [516] Open source questions? Anyone can ask. - (2005-12-03)
  [651] Please Register with Opentalk - but just once! - (2006-03-19)
  [806] Check your user is human. Have him retype a word in a graphic - (2006-07-17)
  [828] Freedom of speech and freedom to post - (2006-08-10)
  [841] Forum help - a push in the right direction - (2006-08-21)
  [919] Freedom for X is denial of privacy for Y - (2006-11-09)
  [923] Why shouldn't I spam? - (2006-11-13)
  [948] Running an on line campaign - (2006-11-27)
  [1088] Why use BBC code not HTML? - (2007-02-21)
  [1190] Save the Forum - A regular clean sweep - (2007-05-17)
  [1362] No Thank You - (2007-09-23)
  [1472] The Horse goes on and on - (2007-12-15)
  [1485] Copyright and theft of images, bandwidth and members. - (2007-12-26)
  [1523] Ive just received an email from myself. Should I be worried? - (2008-01-29)
  [1532] Comment spam blocked. Please comment via Forums - (2008-02-05)
  [1539] A forum is not always the best vehicle - (2008-02-14)
  [1563] Guidlines for posting on a forum - (2008-03-04)
  [1569] I dont care - goodbye - (2008-03-09)
  [1578] Please don't shout at me! - (2008-03-16)
  [1595] First Great Western Weekend - (2008-03-30)
  [1678] Software - changes and delays. But courses must run on time! - (2008-06-15)
  [1759] While the world sleeps ... - (2008-08-19)
  [1923] Making it all worthwhile - (2008-12-04)
  [1972] Pettifog and forum boards away from public view - (2009-01-03)
  [2103] Ask the Tutor - Open Source forum - (2009-03-25)
  [2116] Why do we delay new forum members through authorisation? - (2009-04-03)
  [2156] Stopping forum spam - control of the signup process - (2009-05-04)
  [2162] Admins thoughts on banning a member from a forum - (2009-05-09)
  [2177] Preventing forum spam - checks at sign up - (2009-05-12)
  [2254] Forum membership - a privilege not a right - (2009-06-22)
  [2386] Computing under the influence of alcohol - (2009-08-29)
  [2526] A reluctance to move from old shoes to new - (2009-12-05)
  [2527] Flying tonight - (2009-12-05)
  [2569] How to run a successful online poll / petition / survey / consultation - (2010-01-10)
  [2781] The 500 pound question to get you started - (2010-05-26)
  [2820] Netiquette for forum newcomers - (2010-06-20)
  [3479] Practical Extraction and Reporting - using Python and Extreme Programming - (2011-10-14)
  [3910] Identifying your real customers and keeping them well informed fast - (2012-11-02)
  [4017] Acceptable User Policy / vexatious interacter - (2013-02-24)
  [4025] Backups, Codebase, Strategy and more - dealing with forum incidents - (2013-03-03)
  [4065] Handling requests to a forum - the background process - (2013-04-17)
  [4239] Facebook marketing - early experiences - (2014-01-19)
  [4283] Can a legitimate forum post become illegal a year later? - (2014-07-11)
  [4307] Identifying and clearing denial of service attacks on your Apache server - (2014-09-27)
  [4315] Welcoming genuine forum posters quickly - but turning away off topic advertisers - (2014-11-16)
  [4403] The unbalanced relationship between customer and provider - (2015-01-21)
  [4492] Almost so wrong, but perhaps it's right for some? - (2015-05-11)

A213 - Web Application Deployment - Commercial and Legal Aspects
  [142] Colour for access - (2004-12-06)
  [259] Responding to spam - (2005-03-27)
  [288] Colour blindness for web developers - (2005-04-22)
  [320] Ordnance Survey - using a 'Get a map' - (2005-05-22)
  [322] More maps - (2005-05-23)
  [532] Copyright - how much can I legally copy? - (2005-12-17)
  [746] Domain Listing Center and Domain Registry of America - (2006-06-06)
  [759] Watch your Google profile - (2006-06-13)
  [795] Remember a site's non-technical issues too - (2006-07-07)
  [876] Making pages clearer - easy Disability Discrimination Act Compliance - (2006-09-23)
  [994] Training on Cascading Style Sheets - (2006-12-17)
  [1054] UK legal requirements for your commercial web site - (2007-01-27)
  [1431] Getting the community on line - some basics - (2007-11-13)
  [1486] Does anyone understand Lithuanian? - (2007-12-27)
  [1506] Ongoing Image Copyright Issues, PHP and MySQL solutions - (2008-01-14)
  [1747] Who is watching you? - (2008-08-10)
  [1840] Validating Credit Card Numbers - (2008-10-14)
  [1937] Getting hold of the wrong end of the stick - (2008-12-12)
  [2140] Beware - giving copyright away when you upload a picture - Dogs Trust - (2009-04-25)
  [2252] Leaping dog, Leaping horse, copyright of old masters - (2009-06-20)
  [2592] Re-using our pictures - (2010-01-21)
  [2686] Freedom of Information - consideration for web site designers - (2010-03-20)
  [3016] The legal considerations of your web presence - revisited - (2010-10-26)
  [3104] Catering in Syracuse, the Saigon Cafe, stolen images and Christmas - (2010-12-25)
  [3168] Web Sites - Subject to Advertising Standards from 1st March - check your sites - (2011-02-13)
  [3745] Legal change - You need to obtain user consent if you use cookies on your website - (2012-06-01)
  [3746] Google Analytics and the new UK Cookie law - (2012-06-02)
  [3747] An easy way to comply with the new cookie law if your site is well designed - (2012-06-02)


Back to
Open for the new year - Imber
Previous and next
or
Horse's mouth home
Forward to
Sharing my personal best of 2013
Some other Articles
A Question series posed to Melksham Tourist information
Why the long gap?
Using Python to analyse last years forum logs. Good coding practise discussion.
Sharing my personal best of 2013
Change to Libel and Defamation laws from 1st January 2014
Open for the new year - Imber
Not wanted here - hotel guests who will not be happy
Well House Consultants - Public Training Course times for 2014
Well House Consultants - course prices for 2014
Thin end of the wedge - plan to be thicker in 2014
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This is a page archived from The Horse's Mouth at http://www.wellho.net/horse/ - the diary and writings of Graham Ellis. Every attempt was made to provide current information at the time the page was written, but things do move forward in our business - new software releases, price changes, new techniques. Please check back via our main site for current courses, prices, versions, etc - any mention of a price in "The Horse's Mouth" cannot be taken as an offer to supply at that price.

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