You might recall that not so very long ago I made a point of clarifying site policy. My only real bone of contention was with people using the comments as a form of search engine advertising centre rather than as a place to add something or make an interesting point. Specifically I did not want to find the real readers and myself chatting with people called "Limescale Prevention", "Cheap Pills" or "PC Parts". There is nothing wrong with making it clear that you are commenting in an official capacity by adding your site title after your name (or handle) such as "Matt B (Thanet Star)" I'd even be willing to put up with something ugly like "My Name | Keyword".

While I expect our anon bloggers to carry on calling themselves by their handles rather than their real names I do not see this as a good reason to let the Jonny Come Lately American and East Europian bloggers abuse this or any other site.

Enough was enough and you might have noticed that those who have been putting self promotion and profit above the quality of local debate have now be renamed "Naughty User" and their link removed and their IP address exposed for all to see. Hopefully those from all parts of the world that think they can abuse Thanet's growing blog success (something all Thanet's bloggers have had a hand in) will start to realise that this is not something we are willing to put with.

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I hope you are having a nice time where-ever you are today.

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Happy stolen pagan festival to each and every one of you.

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You regular brilliant non seasonal blogging will resume shortly I have no doubt.

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Just to be very clear on where I stand and what affiliates I may or may not have.

Mark Nottingham recently raised the very important point of disclosure in his article Predicting the Dane Valley result. Mark observes that almost all politically aligned bloggers declare their affiliation outright naming two that do not or might not. The one who might not be clear about their affiliation being our Tony and the other not disclosing on their blog is Simon Moores who has accused me (Matt B of Thanet Star) of having a Labour affiliation.

This article, for those that are interested is a full disclosure of my affiliations that might have any impact on my neutrality introducing unexpected bias where it was not intended. If this interests you read on otherwise skip on to the next article.

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» Continue Reading: Full Disclosure

Following on from my last post on the subject of blogging and liability Euroferries are made of green jam and the very good comments that have been added I have taken a deeper look at the state of British law.

Saying our laws on the subject of libel are out of date and dangerous is an understatement. They have been publicly recognised as out of date and in dire need of reform for the last ten years or more.

Back in 2002 ISPs and libel laws were under review with the opinion that the law needs to change. seven years later and things remain as ever they have done.

The problem appears to be that back in May 1998 physicist Laurence Godfrey used a fraudulent e-mail post that contained obscene and defamatory material about him to sue Demon Internet U.K. for libel. Demon for some reason simply settle out of court and set a president that disfavours all ISPs.

The BBC reported recently that Index on Censorship have said that the strict laws are used by wealthy foreign individuals to "bully people who try to hold them to account". Not a good sign for our brave bloggers trying to hold our local councillors and businesses to account.

The BBC goes on to quote John Kampfner, chief executive of Index on Censorship, saying There are US States who view English libel law as so damaging to free speech they have passed laws to effectively block the decisions of English judges.

Recommendations include Making some internet comments exempt as part of efforts to reflect the arrival of the world wide web. Something we have seen the need of first hand.

No wonder ECR blogs without his real name.

Ignorance of their rights may be causeing Thanet bloggers to be unnecesserily pushed arround by big business. The big business attempting to censor or manipulate blogs this time is Euroferries.

Two bloggers Adem and the psudo-anonymous Eastcliff Richard have both published what look like solicitor written statements. These both published with uncharacteristic closed comments.

Leading to such posts as "Libel to Kill" where leading bloggers in the Thanet niche are announcing that all comments will be heavily moderated and fact checked prior to publication.

Now excuse and correct me if I am in any way wrong but with libal it is the person who wrote the offending text. Otherwise it would be libellous to cite the offending text in order to prosecute or report it.

So unless a legal expert (which I am not) can say otherwise I am outright telling you that Euroferries have gone too far. Thanet Star will not ever yield to bully companies that feel that they can (ab)use the law (or rather solicitors) to force their will on bloggers when there are better methods available.


Keep reading to find out what can and should be done.

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» Continue Reading: Euroferries are made of green jam.

Euroferries threats to leading bloggers are, in my opinion, a threat to everyone in Thanet. Thanet still endures under a culture of fear and hostility where most bloggers do not dare to name themselves. The Euroferries threats that Eastcliff Richard (ECR) has clearly been dealt serve only to undermine the privacy we crave in order to question the politics here.

The simple fact is that ECR was reporting factually on comments made on another blog. Euroferries would not have had a hope in hell (in my opinion) of getting anything other than the right to pay ECRs costs. However they would have spoiled a good thing by unmasking a man many of us would rather not see unmasked.

ECR takes the role of the all licensed fool and as such while wearing that mask (whoever he is) is free to say things no one else is brave enough to voice. The only effect Euroferries could have had would be to have cost Adem and ECR a lot of pain and then gone after the "anon" commenter. The people that suffer would have been all of us and just so Euroferries could prove they had not gone bust something so self evidently true that it makes the entire thing laughable if not for the serious nature of the damage all Thanet bloggers would have taken.

Their strong arm tactics are, in my eyes, an attack on all of us and if on all of us on me. I take the actions of Euroferries personally as Thanet Star works only because it is park of a bigger picture. To this I will respond.

I have updated my comment policy to try and be clearer about how and why I do things (like when I feel a comment should be removed). It can still be found on the site policies page.

In a nut shell I've clarified that being spamming is a no go and that I like to think disagreeing with me is fine. I've also covered SEO (and it's abuse) as well as the legal question of comment authorship and therefore ownership. I also mention freedom of speech issues.

As always - feel free to say something related tot he topic of the post.