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International Law

Freedom to Differ

A blog that speaks freely about legal issues facing the media and the internet. It mainly covers issues relating to the legal regulation of the internet and the media, but at times Constitutional law issues and politics are discussed. While the focus is on Australia, developments in other nations around the world are considered as well.

Post Frequency: 25.4/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 09:11:39

A few interesting links

Posted on August 06, 2008
A few interesting links from the last few days: At LawFont Kim Weatherall analyses today's High Court decision in Copyright Agency Limited vs The State of NSW [2008] HCA 35. Read her summary here. The Economist looks at e-hatred, arguing that "social networks and video-sharing sites don???t always bring people...

Dr Horrible, TV and participatory culture

Posted on August 03, 2008
Tama Leaver has posted an interesting presentation he recently gave, titled What Dr Horrible Can Teach TV About Participatory Culture: ... one of my ongoing interests is the way that traditional media forms, especially television, engage with participatory culture and their immediate fan networks...

We really are six degrees from Kevin Bacon

Posted on August 03, 2008
The Washington Post reports on an interesting study from Microsoft on human connectivity: Turns out, it is a small world. The "small world theory," embodied in the old saw that there are just "six degrees of separation" between any two strangers on Earth, has been largely corroborated by a massive...

We really are only six degrees from Kevin Bacon after all

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An Anthropological Introduction to YouTube

Posted on August 02, 2008
Michael Wesch, the famed anthropologist focused on digital culture behind the videos The Machine is Us/Ing Us and A Vision of Students Today) has released a presentation he gave to the Library of Congress on YouTube. It is long (55 minutes) and familiar to those of you have followed YouTube's...

The other blogging Peter Black

Posted on August 02, 2008
I've been aware of my namesake, a UK Liberal Democrat who maintains a blog, for some time, but it was nonetheless interesting to see Andrew Bartlett review his blog, and in particular, a more recent piece of his on the impact of blogging and the internet on politics: I?ve mused...

And you thought I was obsessed with reality TV

Posted on August 02, 2008
Two psychiatrists from Montreal claim there is a recognisable psychiatric illness known as The Truman Show Delusion: Joel and Ian Gold, brothers and psychiatrists from Montreal, believe they have discovered a signature mental illness of the YouTube era: patients who claim they are subjects of their own reality TV shows...

Join my blog network on Facebook

Posted on August 02, 2008
For those of you who are Facebook users, in addition to the Freedom to Differ Facebook Application, you can now connect with other readers through the Blog Networks Application: Join my blog network on Facebook Blog Networks And don't forget to follow me on Twitter.

Academics on Facebook

Posted on August 02, 2008
When I first joined Facebook I was nervous about what role it should have (if any) with my students. Indeed, for quite some time I used to ignore Friend Requests from students. However, I ultimately took advantage of the limited profile and then advanced privacy settings and configured a version...

The end of the Patry Copyright Blog

Posted on August 02, 2008
William Patry has decided to end his blog, The Patry Copyright Blog. This is a loss to the IP blogosphere and the blogosphere in general, but after reading his final post you will understand why. For him, it came down to two things. First, the refusal or inability of many...

Academics on Facebook

The other blogging Peter Black

And you thought I was obsessed with reality TV

What (if anything) do the exams I've set say about me?

Posted on August 01, 2008
Ever since the New York Times posted copies of the exams Barack Obama set while a professor at the University of Chicago Law School, the media and the blogosphere have been carefully analysing them, trying to find what they reveal about him, his mind and his ideology...

High Court hilarity

Posted on August 01, 2008
It is always embarrassing when a mobile phone goes off in an inappropriate place or inconvenient time. And so it was the Acting Chief Justice of Australia: WHAT do you do with a judge whose phone goes off in court? And what if the judge is the Acting Chief Justice...

High Court hilarity

Searching iPods at customs?

Posted on July 29, 2008
The Internet Industry Association has called on the Australian Government to take a "balanced approach" to a proposed but little known Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement that could result in customs officials searching travellers' laptops and MP3 players when they arrive in Australia: The Internet Industry Association (IIA) today called on the...

A sign of the times

Posted on July 29, 2008
Australian swimming's golden couple Eamon Sullivan and Stephanie Rice have apparently broken up. It seems only appropriate that the couple, who shot to fame thanks to some "raunchy" party picks on Facebook, announced the break up by changing their Facebook relationship status: Australian swimming's glamour couple Eamon Sullivan and Stephanie...

The RNC tries make a point with humour

Posted on July 29, 2008
I was intrigued to see this post on The Caucus (a blog hosted by the New York Times) that the RNC has set up a parody Facebook for Barack Obama, BarackBook.com, to highlight some of his lesser known associations. An interesting political strategy - and a novel use twist on...

The RNC tries make a point with humour

Defamation on Facebook

Posted on July 24, 2008
As if to demonstrate Judge Ryrie's point from my previous post about the uncertainty of Facebook pages ("that anyone can create an identity that could mimic the true person's identity"), I then read this story about a defamation case in the UK centred around a fake Facebook page: A businessman...

Service via Facebook?

Posted on July 24, 2008
When legal proceedings are initiated in Queensland, a copy of the claim and statement of claim must be given to or 'served' on the defendant. This is usually done by way of personal service, where the relevant documents are personally handed to the defendant...

One more Big Brother post

Posted on July 24, 2008
Given my gushing rant on Monday night you probably thought that would be the last post on Big Brother for some time, possibly ever. However, I thought I'd post this video that pays tribute to the 2008 housemates:

Service via Facebook?

One more Big Brother post

While on hiatus ...

Posted on July 22, 2008
While this blog was on hiatus I was mainly concentrating on a few different research projects, but I did manage to do a few things that may be interest to regular readers. First, I attended Microsoft's inaugural Politics and Technology Forum in Canberra...

Can Jayent Patel receive a fair trial?

Posted on July 22, 2008
An op-ed piece I wrote looking at how the internet may impact upon whether Jayent Patel can receive a fair trial is in today's Courier Mail. It is available online here.

It's time to go Big Brother ... for now

Posted on July 21, 2008
The last episode of Big Brother ended tonight with the words "It's time to go Big Brother ... for now". So hope remains that Big Brother will one day return in some form. But for now it is worth reflecting on the past eight seasons. I've always blogged a bit...

The hiatus ... is over

Posted on July 20, 2008
After a six week break, blogging will resume tomorrow. Details to follow in the morning.

Blogging resumes

Posted on July 20, 2008
Six weeks ago I put this blog on hiatus, not knowing when if ever I would return to blogging. It had become too time consuming and no fun. I felt as though I had to post every day. It consisted little more than me embedding videos and cutting and pasting...

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