On Monday, Parliament will decide the future of blogging in this country. As the government’s press regulation proposals stand, blogs big and small would come under the new press regulator. This would make bloggers liable for significant compensation sums (aka exemplary damages), fees for joining the regulator as an ‘associated member’ (newspapers join as full members) as well as for increased legal costs.
While the proposals could send bloggers rogue, to host their sites abroad and out of Parliament’s jurisdiction, others who can’t face the hassle may decide to close down. The problem stems from Leveson’s lack of concern for (or understanding of) the Internet. His report devoted just one page to the Internet. It was left to the legislators to botch together a solution for ‘wild west’ of publishing in their 2am deal. Big Brother Watch have taken up the case and successfully persuaded Conservative peer Lord Lucas to table an amendment to the Crime and Courts Bill to take most bloggers out of the equation:
‘9) “A publisher who does not exceed the definition of a small or medium-sized enterprise as defined in Section 382 and 465 Companies Act 2006.”’
Meanwhile, Labour have also tabled a different amendment which targets ‘small blogs’.
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