Arthur's Seat

A bit more Select

Arthur's Seat has combined with Infinitives Unsplit and the director of the Policy Institute to launch a new group blog - The Select Society.

The Select was one of the first literary and debating clubs of the Scottish Enlightenment - hopefully the new Select will combine its wit and erudition, as well as its love of claret, but without the need for woolen undergarments.

Farewell Arthur's Seat - welcome the Select.

Not such great news from India

This is a worrying tale of censorship from the world's largest democracy.

Apologies, gentle reader

We haven't disappeared; Mrs Seat has been in London assisting her sister with pre-wedding preparations, and I have been in Dublin, mainly, getting to grips with my new job. Please excuse this hiatus (I was going to write temporary hiatus, but the PG would have been over this post like a rash). By the time we pick up again the Home Office may have ceased to exist; what joy.

Defamation and the blogosphere

The High Court in England has awarded libel damages of £10,000 to a Mr Keith Smith after he brought an action against a Tracy Williams for defaming him in an internet chatroom. The Times carries the story here, and comment from a media lawyer who chastises the Court for being behind the curve, again.

Libel actions should be about correcting a wrong, where one party is all-powerful and the other not. We should have a more egalitarian approach to how we impose libel law in cyberspace and not destroy the vibrancy of the internet.

Update: Tim W looks in some more details at the issues raised here. Also, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (see right) has a good - albeit US-based - guide to blogging and the law.

Bloggers' Rights

On a sunny Wednesday in Edinburgh it's easy to forget that words have consequences - EFF is on hand to keep us amateur hacks on the straight and narrow - and - more importantly, to campaign for those for whom blogging is a precious liberty.

One to keep an eye on

Liberty Central has arrived.

Grammatically unimpeachable

The PG has an ally.

Small blogalanche, no-one injured

Thanks to the readers of the Corner who are still visiting - almost 900 of you yesterday. Welcome to Edinburgh.

A perfect bedside manner

A blog endorsed by these two titans of the blogosphere can't be all bad - in fact, it is very good; very, very good (and an advertisement for BUPA).

A new member of the Parish

Please welcome a new member of the blog parish; he likes pandrops too.