"Sacha" wrote in message
oups.com...

Tumbleweed wrote:
"Sacha" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have no idea how it would work or even if it could work, but IMO, it
would be better if newsgroups could maintain their own archives and
have a sort of 'librarian' moderator who would weed out those that are
clearly libelous or defamatory. But as I say, that may be impossible.


Look at it another way. Once you start moderating, then you potentially
become responsible for whats left, and also for whats been removed or has
not been removed.

I think that theoretical danger could be removed by a disclaimer to the
effect that 'the views expressed and information given are not the
responsibility of the archivist unless they're clearly his or her own".
In that way, there would be no more danger of misplaced responsibility
or bad advice offered, than there is now.

By leaving it alone, and archiving everything, you dont
have responsibility, since you are just a 'robotic' archiver. I think there
was a very recent court case against google that backed up this POV.

I'd guess that sooner or later, Google is going to be sued for
promoting the spread of libel or misinformation, or both. One case
that was written about some time ago was that of a journalist whose
photograph appeared in a Google article about a gynaecologist accused
of molesting several women.

Do you mean a site that came up in a Google search or in a Google web page??
There is a difference.
Jenny

I forget the details now but the gist of
it was that the journalist whose photograph could well have been
mistaken for that of the accused gyane, may well have had a case
against Google. Of course, much may depend on the laws of the country
in which any such case was brought. However, as I don't ask Google to
archive my posts and, so far as I know, nobody is on record as ever
having asked them to do so, they might find one day that they will be
sued for assisting in the spread of a libel. I'm pretty sure someone
has recently attempted that but I don't recall the outcome.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon