Blogs & Freedom of Speech

The article Legal Showdown in Search Fracas gives an example of how one company, Traffic-Power.com, is suing a blog for comments left on the site that expressed negative opinions about the company. I believe that someone should have the right to sue based on comments from a blog, but only under certain circumstances. The article mentions a few. The information must be proven false and that it had a substantially negative impact on the party. Also, I believe opinions should be weighed on the expertise of the person who posts them. If someone posts a negative and/or false comment about a company while openly expressing their position there, I believe that holds merit to sue. However, I do not believe internet service providers, blogs and so on, should force or be forced to give away the real identities of their users. This feature should be completely optional based on the users preference. I believe this holds true for tangible forms of expression as well. Letters to the editor in a newspaper can be published anonymously, authors write under false names to protect their privacy and the same goes for poems and works of art. Most people do not want to cause trouble, and for them, attracting attention means trouble. I believe everyone has the right to voice their opinion and not have to be scrutinized over it. They can just be an anonymous voice, which sometimes can generate more of a movement than "Steve, the plumber, from Illinois" can. Most importantly, some people feel safer by remaining anonymous. If one chooses to stand out by naming themselves then it should be their choice, not an enforcement.

I believe some blogs can be taken as seriously as a text book, while others can be created solely for entertainment purposes. A blog can be proven credible by making the credibility of the author known. The author can retain some privacy by giving out his or her credentials but withholding his or her name. Listing sources is another way of gaining credibility. Most importantly, I think much of a blog's credibility is created in the mind of the reader. They will come to their own conclusion by what information is presented. A man might believe the rantings in a blog of a UFO hunter to be completely true. It can be very subjective. Most importantly, I believe blogs should remain almost completely unregulated. Blogs should be free to express their opinions; comments and all. But at the same time, there should be a watchful eye searching for explicit, adult or grotesque subject matter. Also, drawing attention to yourself by confessing to five mass murders should be taken seriously. Even a priest has to draw the line during confession once in a while.