Legal or not? That is the question

A former journalism professor of mine, Sam Terilli, graced us with his cynical presence in room 3033 at the School of Communication (SOC). Ironically beginning his discussion with the question "Why blog," Terilli put on his lawyer hat and gave some personal insight into the world of tomorrow. "SOC asked me to write a blog," he said. "But I don't know why." In some sense, he is absolutely right. Then he proposed the question that, I think, made most of my classmates (including myself, excluding Greg Linch) squirm a little. "How many people read your blogs?" ...Silence. Actually with Google Analytics you can find out. To date, I have had 60 people come to my blogspot. I'm not quite sure how that is supposed to make me feel, but hey, its better than zero. Terilli compared blogs, in general, to online journals, with its sole purpose to give people a chance to vent. But I disagree with that. Blogging is multi-directional. There are many channels of understanding that lay between the writer (me), and those 60 lucky people out there in this world wide web of chaos. Even though 50 or so of those people that have come across eStablishment probably made a typo somewhere, it is still incentive to keep writing. Maybe someone's life will be changed after reading an ever so meaningful blog post...even by accident.

But, to be fair, there are some boulders you have to watch out for when putting words in a public forum. Defamation, for example, even by accident, could bring repercussions like fines (sometimes 5 or 6 figures ($)), or even jail time; meaning: don't piss off the wrong guy (or gal). Unfortunately for us lowly writers/bloggers, the Communications Decency Act of 1996 holds us entirely responsible. According to section 230, if a company or website provides access for people to publish, they are immune.

This leads to an ongoing discussion of anonymous posting. Sites like JuicyCampus.com (*be warned) allow for the most vile, inflammatory speech known to human kind. Well, the problem is, if you are defamed, where to point your finger. Legally, you can't blame JuicyCampus. They are just a host. The other side to this argument is first amendment based. A fundamental part of our society is being able to speak anonymously. If you break off the leg of a table, the table shall fall...you follow.

So, as the weekend begins, keep these things in mind and maybe try and exercise your right to speak anonymously. And by no means am I endorsing Juicy Campus.