Demon pledges to contest Godfrey lawsuit

As Demon Internet insisted it will continue to contest the defamation lawsuit brought by London-based academic, Dr Laurence Godfrey, Net industry bodies have voiced their fears over a preliminary ruling which found against Demon.

Late last week, civil liberties groups expressed concern after Demon chose not to challenge a pre-trial ruling made in March (http://www.silicon.com/a30792 ). Among other things, the ruling found the Internet service provider (ISP) couldn't use the so-called 'Internet defence' of innocent distribution of defamatory information after a forged message - made to look like it was from Dr Godfrey - was posted to one of its newsgroups in January 1997.

But in a statement issued on Friday, Demon director, David Furniss insisted the ISP will defend the case.

However, other ISPs have not been so positive. A spokesman for the Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) said the ruling "opens up the floodgates for [ISPs] to be sued for unlawful removal of content and puts them in the unwanted position of being a censor".

Cyber-rights groups reacted with anger. Internet Freedom called the ruling "a disaster for ISPs, Net users and free speech", and questioned the viability of ISPs hosting debates, chat rooms and controversial Web sites.

Godfrey has always maintained he is just trying to protect his reputation - he alleges he served the initial writ against Demon because it didn't remove a defamatory posting from its newsgroup after several warnings. The message, purportedly from Godfrey, was actually posted by a Canadian student.

Keith Mitchell, chairman of London Internet Exchange (Linx) which represents ISPs, said ISPs will now be forced to consider how they should act once told about allegedly defamatory content. "There needs to be a way to distinguish between spurious and justified claims [of defamation]. Should ISPs respond to any claim or only those from a certain source - for example, a lawyer acting within a clear-cut process?" he said.

ISPs are also pushing for the upcoming UK Ecommerce Bill to address the issue. They are likely to call for the Bill to include guidelines on defamation which circumvent any precedent set by Godfrey vs Demon.