The Argument from Authority
Our old pal the liar Warren Kinsella wags a finger at Kate, Kathy and two bloggers I can’t identify, on behalf of an award winning, pie throwing inciter and admitted sock puppet.
Warren cites a very good article by a brilliant defamation lawyer and all round bien pensant kinda guy, Julian Porter, on the internet and the Canadian law of libel. Kinsella writes, “I sincerely hope it gives them lots of nightmares.”
And well he might as that is the best he can hope for. Porter rightly notes in his article that the leading case in Canada on libel and the internet is Barrick Gold Corporation v. Lopehandia et al 2004 in which the Ontario Court of Appeal noticed that a libel published on the internet had a broader potential distribution than one published in your local PTA newsletter and that, where malice is proven, punitive damages are appropriate.
So, if Lucy can satisfy a judge that various people libeled him by suggesting that a) he posted under at least one alias, b) from a computer which just happened to have the same IP as a computer used by some sexist racist scumbag to spew filth about a black female Canadian Senator who is not on EGALE’s Christmas card list, c) that he has a reputation to lose, d) that he has suffered actual damages and e) that the people posting cannot avail themselves of the various defences to a claim of defamation, then Lucy is perfectly entitled to claim punitive damages.
I note that Mr. Porter is not acting for Lucy in such matters which have resulted in libel notices being sent. Mr. Porter’s services are rather dear…perhaps we should take up a collection. Or maybe the CJC’s legal committee might foot the bill as a sort of bonus prize for Lucy on the occasion of his outing.
Update: Ooopsie. Julian Porter, QC will not be available for Lucy…according to Ezra Levant he’s already acting for Macleans and Mark Steyn.
Written by jay on March 19th, 2008 with
18 comments.
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#1. March 19th, 2008, at 5:37 PM.
Ah Kinsella the blowhard at it again. What a twit.