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Legal News

: It's (Barely) Legal

You can be jailed for having a blog

By Glen Ashman

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Italy Makes Blogging A 2 Year Jailable Offense

A Sicilian judge ruled earlier this year that blogging, under Italian law, is the same as publishing an unregistered newspaper. In Italy, publishing an unregistered newspaper is a crime of "stampa clandestina," and is punishable by large fines and/or jail. And so down went the first blogger. He was noticed because he wrote unkind things about the Italian government. A horrible legal precedent and basis for the ruling. But by registering a blog, the blog would then be subject to all laws governing newspaper publishing which means the blogger could no longer freely write his or her thoughts. And so it would no longer be a blog. And especially there would be no right to criticize the government.
Since the ruling, another blogger has been taken down. Apparently there are those in the Italian government who have decided to run with this opportunity.

Read about this in The Register (UK) 26-Sep-08
Click here for a full story on this

(The above information is courtesy of the Bonehead of the Week newsletter <BoneheadOfTheDayAward@yahoogroups.com>)

Full post as published by It's (Barely) Legal on September 28, 2008 (boomark / email).