For example, in defamation cases under English and Welsh law, if a publisher is accused of disseminating allegedly libellous material, the onus is on the publisher to establish its innocence, whereas under American law the plaintiff who has been libelled has to prove that the publisher was guilty of malice. A recent ruling in the US has established that an ISP has the status of a phone company and is therefore not liable for libellous statements made by its subscribers. It has been said that following the Demon case, foreign plaintiffs may be more likely to sue for libel in the UK if allegedly libellous material is published here, because of the reversed burden of proof. Even if firms have in-house policies they should be careful when dealing with other companies, especially if they are outsourcing. Doing business on the Internet raises new legal challenges for organisations, mainly around copyright, accuracy of information and intellectual property rights.
Words have real consequences.
People get genuinely hurt in the real world because of nothing more than ill-chosen words. To argue that an ISP should be free to cause real harm with impunity will not sway me,' he said. Swarbrick said that simple precautions can be very effective in limiting corporate liability for libel. For example, companies running bulletin boards should remove postings that are complained of as defamatory as soon as a complaint is received. An ISP is not a mere conduit.