flash@ee.qmc.ac.uk (Flash Sheridan) (06/27/88)
>> I suspect that Canadian law gives the government much greater opportunity >> for censorship than US law; certainly British law does, and the laws of most > West European countries as well. >Maybe, maybe not. >... >Freedom of the press *started* in Britain. I think that their >(British and west european) libel and invasion of privacy laws are >much stricter, creating an illusion of censorship. You obviously haven't followed the Spycatcher affair. What's after the centerfold in the July issue of Playboy? All the copies in England have been censored. _Please_ be cryptic in your response, if you post, otherwise sysops could go to jail. From: flash@ee.qmc.ac.uk (Flash Sheridan) Reply-To: sheridan@nss.cs.ucl.ac.uk or_perhaps_Reply_to: flash@cs.qmc.ac.uk
idc@cs.hw.ac.uk (Ian Crorie) (06/30/88)
In article <519@sequent.cs.qmc.ac.uk> sheridan@nss.cs.ucl.ac.uk writes: ..stuff deleted.. > >What's after the centerfold in the July issue of Playboy? All the copies in >England have been censored. > I read in a diary column in one of the Sunday papers (I think) that the reason for the some-pages-removed-for-legal-reasons message on the cover was the following: In the American edition there was a humorous article about an imaginary U.S. golfer including some uncomplimentary remarks about him. When the U.K. lawyers retained by whoever publishes Playboy in the U.K. read this they completely missed the point of the piece and, thinking that this was a *real* person, advised that the article was potentially libellous. So it was removed. Maybe the lawyers just skimmed over the articles and concentrated on the pictures. ;-) > > ..... _Please_ be cryptic in your response, if you >post, otherwise sysops could go to jail. > Ok officer, it's a fair cop, but USENET is to blame.
erict@flatline.UUCP (j eric townsend) (07/02/88)
In article <519@sequent.cs.qmc.ac.uk>, flash@qmc-cs.UUCP writes: > I write: > >Freedom of the press *started* in Britain. I think that their > >(British and west european) libel and invasion of privacy laws are > >much stricter, creating an illusion of censorship. > You obviously haven't followed the Spycatcher affair. I was excepting that, actually. There are a few things in America that are censored more by business than the government. We have tons of prior censorship over here. Work for the gov't in a security related position? You probably get to sign a little agreement (as part of your contract) that says you'll never publish anything, ever, related to your job. Blech. Just prior-censorship instead of post. At least the Spycatcher stuff got to America. If it was the other way around, the U.S. would be suing to have copies in *all* countries returned and destroyed. > What's after the centerfold in the July issue of Playboy? All the copies in > England have been censored. _Please_ be cryptic in your response, if you > post, otherwise sysops could go to jail. I dunno. I guess I'll go buy it and find out. -- Skate UNIX or go home, boogie boy... J. Eric Townsend ->uunet!nuchat!flatline!erict smail:511Parker#2,Hstn,Tx,77007 ..!bellcore!tness1!/
flash@ee.qmc.ac.uk (Flash Sheridan) (07/04/88)
Followup-To: Distribution: Organization: EE Dept, Queen Mary College, U London E1-4NS Keywords: In article <1011@flatline.UUCP> erict@flatline.UUCP (j eric townsend) writes: > > >In article <519@sequent.cs.qmc.ac.uk>, flash@qmc-cs.UUCP writes: >> I write: >> >Freedom of the press *started* in Britain. I think that their >> >(British and west european) libel and invasion of privacy laws are >> >much stricter, creating an illusion of censorship. >> You obviously haven't followed the Spycatcher affair. > >to your job. Blech. Just prior-censorship instead of post. At least >the Spycatcher stuff got to America. If it was the other way around, >the U.S. would be suing to have copies in *all* countries returned and >destroyed. > Wrong. Ex CIA agents have to get their stuff cleared to publish it; frequently stuff gets taken out. Wright's lawyer made a similar offer to Thatcher very early on, and was turned down. I wouldn't have been too terribly upset if the tradecraft in Spycatcher had been taken out, just so long as the treason had been left in. In the States, this would have happened. Look at John (?) Adams, the CIA fellow who revealed General Westmoreland's improprieties. From: flash@ee.qmc.ac.uk (Flash Sheridan) Reply-To: sheridan@nss.cs.ucl.ac.uk or_perhaps_Reply_to: flash@cs.qmc.ac.uk
erict@flatline.UUCP (j eric townsend) (07/07/88)
In article <528@sequent.cs.qmc.ac.uk>, flash@ee.qmc.ac.uk (Flash Sheridan) writes: > In article <1011@flatline.UUCP> erict@flatline.UUCP (j eric townsend) writes: > >In article <519@sequent.cs.qmc.ac.uk>, flash@qmc-cs.UUCP writes: > >> I write: > >> >Freedom of the press *started* in Britain. I think that their > >> >(British and west european) libel and invasion of privacy laws are > >> >much stricter, creating an illusion of censorship. > >> You obviously haven't followed the Spycatcher affair. > >Blech. Just prior-censorship instead of post. At least > >the Spycatcher stuff got to America. If it was the other way around, > >the U.S. would be suing to have copies in *all* countries returned and > >destroyed. > Wrong. Ex CIA agents have to get their stuff cleared to publish it; Technically, yes. However, if an exCIA person *really* wanted to release a book, they could. Just get a publisher willing to take the risk. A small house, possibly Lampoonics Press (is that their *real* name? :-) or someone that would put up a chunk of $$$ for a 50-100K copy run. > frequently stuff gets taken out. Wright's lawyer made a similar offer to Recently this was brought to court. The CIA was forced to explain to the court *what* they wanted removed, and *why*. They only got to keep out about 1/4-1/3 of what they wanted keep out. I think it was a good precident. (This is in my notes if I need to look it up.) Take a look at the Pentagon Papers incident. The NYT went ahead and printed. A restraining order followed, but they NYT eventually won and the series of articles ran. With prior censorship, I doubt the story would have ever made it out.... -- Skate UNIX or go home, boogie boy... J. Eric Townsend ->uunet!nuchat!flatline!erict smail:511Parker#2,Hstn,Tx,77007 ..!bellcore!tness1!/