Bloggers Can’t be Sued for Quoting Others, California Court Rules

Bloggers in California have gained protection from misdirected libel lawsuits, after the state’s Supreme Court ruled that a newsgroup owner could not be sued for posting defamatory statements made by others.

This confirms a federal law granting internet service and content providers immunity from libel suits, and is a victory for online publishers and free speech advocates.

“People who contend they were defamed on the Internet can seek recovery only from the original source of the statement, not from those who re-post it,” the court stated, noting that “subjecting internet service providers and users to defamation liability would tend to chill online speech.”

The unanimous ruling is a victory for online publishers and internet free speech advocates, and further entrenches the principle of “don’t shoot the messenger” into U.S. common law.

Upgraded to Firefox 2.0 and Windows Live Mail

Just a quick note to say that I’ve finally gotten around to downloading the latest version of Firefox. (Quite disgusting that it took me over two weeks, but I’ve been sort of busy lately. )

Anyway, aside from the fact that it disabled a couple of my of my older plugins, the browser itself seems to work great. It also lets me use the full version of “Windows Live Mail” which is actually a surprising improvement over Hotmail.

Although its not exactly original, (it really takes after GMail and copies a few Yahoo features for good measure), and lacks a few of the features I like in GMail, Windows Live Mail is a lot more slick and versatile than its predecessors.

All in all, it’s been a successful hour of upgrading.

Now excuse me while I go and look for new Firefox plugins.

Federal Government Screws Income Trust Investors

If you follow the Canadian stock market you likely know all too well that the federal government sprung a dramatic decision on investors earlier this week, which will see “income trusts” taxed at about the same rate as any registered corporation.

Trusts have long been exempt from normal corporate tax laws, allowing them to pay out larger dividends to investors than other publicly traded companies. In short, they are… sorry, were… a good option for the mid-risk income-oriented investor looking for a steady flow of cash from their investment holdings.

Although one could argue that the tax benefits of income trusts have been, on occasion, abused by big corporations, the fact remains that these investment vehicles have become an important component in the Canadian investment economy, upon which many people rely for regular income.

That’s why I was a little taken aback when Stephen Harper’s Conservative government, made the sudden decision to impose heavy taxes on trusts, effectively rendering them obsolete for tax purposes. In the closely fought election battle earlier this year, the Conservatives promised quite clearly that they would not be taking this move, and that investors had nothing to worry about.

By doing a complete 180 on this issue, however, (and gaining the all-to-eager support of some minority parties in parliament), the federal government has betrayed the trust of Canadian investors, after wooing them into a false sense of security.

The government claims that income trusts are “damaging” the Canadian economy. If this is the case, however, why did Harper promise to protect such a dangerous and frightening type of investment in the first place?

Personally, I came very close to purchasing an income trust just a few days ago, but ended up opting for a (safe) mutual fund instead. Had I gone the trust route, I would have lost a significant percentage of my portfolio, as many Canadians did.

Although this issue isn’t quite enough to make me want to vote Liberal, it does cause me to seriously question the Conservative government’s economic policies. Overall, this was a very scummy and underhanded course of action that voters won’t be forgetting about anytime soon.