[I am cross posting to the old and new chat lists, but anyone who has not yet shifted over to the new chat mailing list should do so ASAP] I recently discovered something called the "anti-SLAPP" statute - which right now exists in California (useful for me, since that is where I live, but also contains a disproportionate number of Internet nodes). A SLAPP stands for Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation and is basically a civil action taken against someone to curtail their free speech - even if the civil action doesn't win (and few have any legal merit), the do have the effect of shutting people up as most individuals cannot affort to defend a case. The good news is that in California this problem has been recognised and there is now an anti-SLAPP statute which allows a judge to dismiss a SLAPP while forcing the bad-guys to pay the bill. Find out more at http://www.casp.net/ Ian.
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