We give thanks for not blogging in the Italian waters.

The attention of CyberPanda has been caught by an interesting case from the Italian shores covered by The Register.

Mr Carlo Ruta has been found guilty by the courts of the offence of 'stampa clandestina' which means clandestine publication, in respect of publications of posts on his blog. In the judge`s view, given that the blog had a headline, it amounted to an 'online newspaper' and hence was regulated Law 62 (which regulates online clandestine publications). Mr Ruta was fined and ordered to take down the blog.

CyberPanda is surprised by the ruling of the italian courts and does not see how a blog can be compared to a newspaper. In addition, the argument used by the courts to reach this conclusion (namely that the blog was a newspaper because it had a headline) is logically flawed. It remains to be seen whether this very illogical and harsh ruling will be followed in the future or whether this ruling was reached solely on the basis of the content of the blog in question (politics and mafia). This ruling is a step in the wrong direction as it not only curtails freedom of speech online but also the curtailment of this right, can not be supported by a logical legal/factual argument.

The internet rumour mill.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the World Wide Web, has told BBC News that measures should be taken to ensure that users of the internet are able to separate 'rumour' from 'real science' online. He is also concerned about the use of the internet to spread 'disinformation' (we all remember the rumours circulated online about the dangers of the MMR vaccine). He has made these comments whilst launching the World Wide Web Foundation whose aim is to ensure that the web is truly worldwide and also help users to know if websites are trustworthy/reliable sources of information.

It will be interesting to see what innovations will be made by the Foundation over the years and to what extent it will fulfilled its aims. CyberPanda is all for ensuring that sensationalist rumours do not float around in the online world, it is also equally anxious that the freedom of net users to express themselves in an online context is not curtailed.

Hence the Foundation should keep this tension in mind when considering which innovations would be helpful to prevent the net to become just a rumour mill. CyberPanda can see the merit of such innovations for websites which disseminate information mostly (e.g. websites dealing with medical conditions, news etc) but it struggles to see how such innovations can operate in other contexts where the content consists mostly of the views/opinions of the users (e.g. blogs, forums etc).

Another significant point also is who decides which information is actually misinformation. This point also needs to be kept in mind when dealing with websites which disseminate factual information (e.g. Wikipedia). CyberPanda is concerned that drastic innovations may in the long run put the brakes on online applications similar to Wikipedia.

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