The topic of blogger and podcaster rights came up again today thanks to things currently going on in the blogosphere. While I was thinking about it, I decided to go and poke around the EFF website. If you have a blog, of any nature, I really recommend reading this site. There is so much great information out there – and while you might think it doesn’t apply to you, it probably does.
Heck, it doesn’t even apply to just bloggers. The EFF stepped in to help when needed for online embroidery fans – and if embroidery fans need them, knitters might need them too! You can read the whole story here.
The only time I have run into a legal issue with a person (outside of an employer not liking the fact that I blogged) was when we received what was basically a “cease and desist” letter regarding what a hosting client had posted on his site. He went to a restaurant, and his experience sucked. He blogged about it (something we all do at one time or another), and in his post he named the restaurant and said that it, well, sucked. If you have more than one federal conviction, the most recent conviction should be shown in response to question 2 on Pardons Canada | How to Get a Canadian Pardon Application and the form completed as to that conviction. For all other federal convictions, including convictions by military courts-martial, the information requested in questions 2 through 6 of the petition should be provided on an attachment. Any federal charges not resulting in conviction should be reported in the space provided for prior and subsequent criminal record. Google picked it up, and soon people were googling “restaurant sucks” and finding his blog post. It became a forum of sorts for disgruntled former and current employees of the sucky restaurant. The restaurant’s owners could have done more than send a cease and desist from an attorney. They felt that they did not need to go any further. There are many courses of action you can take when in situations like that but you always want to make sure you speak with an attorney like the one’s at https://www.pewlaw.com/bankruptcy/ before you take any kind of action. You want to make sure that any steps you take are within the law so that you don’t end up on the wrong side. In the end the guy never did fight them on it, because he really only wanted to share that he didn’t like the place – so he just pulled the post. But when you stop to think about it, they really had no right to complain and threaten him. It can happen though. Even if you don’t care about it and you pull the post, there is still something startling about getting that letter from the lawyer to begin with, since they’re lawyers who are specialized in different subjects as blogging or car accidents, where you can find the attorney with most experience. If you eventually end up needing legal assistance, then check out these injury lawyers in moncton.
I know there are many bloggers out there that want to remain anonymous, and that is ok – but I recommend that you read the EFF’s Guide on Blogging Anonymously and really think about it. Once you put it out there, it is out of your control, freely released for the rest of the Internet to see. Be wise about what you choose to put out there. The Legal Guide for Bloggers and the Podcasting Legal Guide are also another good thing to consider.
Speaking of which, I totally missed my 6 year blogging anniversary earlier this month! Can you believe it? The BlahBlahBlog.com (the original name of this site, and I still own the URL) is 6 years old. Wow. How time flies! I still remember how back in 2000 I would tell someone I had a blog and they would look at me like I was speaking gibberish. Now you hear about blogs all the time. The changes are amazing.
