Ghost of a flea: Publication ban

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April 04, 2005

Publication ban

In the latest twist on testimony rumours, PolSpy reports someone tried to post information subject to the publication ban of the Gomery Commission to the comments section of his blog. At least one PolSpy reader, Peace, order and good government, eh? claims the same thing at his blog.

Someone just tried to post a comment to my �Ethics, Schmethics�� piece. The comment contained information from Jean Brault�s AdScam testimony that is currently covered by Judge Gomery�s publication ban here in Canada. The post originated from the IP address 216.58.29.234, which has the following WHOIS information (details at Polspy)

I avoid this sort of thing by a spam/idiot filtering comments function but have banned the IP address regardless. As I have been recently reminded, some folks regard blog comment to be a free speech issue. It is not.*

This is a private publication and nothing is printed here without my permission. Anyone attempting to circumvent a court order and in so doing placing others in the way of criminal prosecution is not welcome here whatever I may or may not think of the merits of the court order. It seems to me that whoever attempted to publish testimony subject to the Gomery Commission's publication ban is not only breaking the law but, in attempting to implicate others in so doing, is almost certainly open to a variety of criminal charges.

*This was awkwardly worded. Blog publishing is a free speech issue. Posting comments to someone else's blog is not. You have the right to send a letter to the New York Times but they are not violating your rights if they do not publish it. In the old pre-internet days your brilliant, incisive letter might vanish unless you took the time to start your own newspaper. In the blogosphere, if you have something to say you can publish it yourself at your own website. That is the beauty of the medium.

Posted by Ghost of a flea at April 4, 2005 09:32 PM

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? An open letter to a jerk from Peace, order and good government, eh?
Dear stooly: You know who you are. You're the individual who just left a comment here that consisted of information that is currently subject to a publication ban in this country. Your comment has been deleted and your IP has... [Read More]

Tracked on April 4, 2005 11:19 PM

Comments

Well, it's sort of a free speech issue, if you would allow the comment but for a government order. (I do think it's quite rude to put a blogger at legal risk without his or her consent, though.)

Posted by: jaed at April 4, 2005 11:55 PM

If we accept that the court order is a violation of free speech - something I believe Justice Gomery's own statement appears to acknowledge - then the decision to bar a comment for fear of contravening that court order would indeed be a free speech issue. I think I was trying to meld two ideas together in one post and did not manage terribly well! :)

Posted by: Ghost of a flea at April 5, 2005 12:02 AM