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From: rogue@cellar.UUCP (Rache McGregor)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc,comp.org.eff.talk
Subject: Re: Growing MJ (Advice sought)
Message-ID: <0wFe44w164w@cellar.UUCP>
Date: 11 Jun 91 22:49:32 GMT
References: <1991Jun7.102950.1658@elevia.UUCP>
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alain@elevia.UUCP (W.A.Simon) writes:

> In <STANTON.91Jun4142432@lurch.stanford.edu> stanton@lurch.stanford.edu (Scot
> >In article <1991Jun4.184604.27133@rodan.acs.syr.edu> dbarberi@rodan.acs.syr.
> >[...]
> >      So what IS the difference between printed media and electronic media? 
> >One big difference is that the contents of electronic media sometimes
> >looks like print and sometimes looks like speech.  And since which it
> >is often depends on "tricky details" like context, the legal system
> >seems to have decided to punt on the issue for now and afford it
> >neither set of protections.
> 
> 	Interesting point that leads to the next questions:
> 
> 	Why should there be a distinction between speech
> 	and the printed word?  Isn't it an artificial split?
> 	Does it correspond to an objective difference?
> 
> >--Scott Stanton     (stanton@cs.stanford.edu)   
> -- 
> William "Alain" Simon
>                                                    UUCP: alain@elevia.UUCP

[Sorry for leaving in the entirety of those two, but...]

The main difference between speech and print is not in protection, but in 
proof.  The distinctions between slander and libel are not simply the fact 
that one is spoken and the other written: in a slander case, the alleged 
defamation must be verified by witnesses; in a libel case, the written 
document stands as evidence.

Electronic media can have the relative permanency of printed matter by being 
saved on disk, much as speech can be preserved on tape.  Tape recordings, 
however, are often barred from court proceedings depending how the taped 
evidence was obtained.  Computer files are more volatile and malleable than 
print and audio - Anyone may design a file that looks genuine but is actually 
corrupt.

Thus, any case involving electronic documents furnished as proof should be 
subject to corroboration and analysis.  If someone alleges libel against a 
user on a bulletin board, for example, the evidence presented by both parties 
could be different, even though they are allegedly the same post/article.  
One copy of an electronic document (even if it has been printed) should not 
be considered sufficient evidence.

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