Recommended: 'The Shifting Legal Landscape of Blogging'

Jennifer L.Peterson, "an associate at LaFollette Godfrey & Kahn" in Madison, Wisconsin, has an important article in the March 2006 issue of Wisconsin Lawyer headlined "The Shifting Legal Landscape of Blogging." I strongly encourage every Blogging Journalist reader to carefully study it as it you've been hit with a defamation suit. Her conclusion:

Blogs are changing the way people communicate. By their nature, however, blogs may not fit neatly in the private/public figure distinction in defamation law, established more than 30 years ago, or the framework of the Communications Decency Act, passed fewer than 10 years ago. Although the law has yet to catch up with this new technology, everyone should be aware of their blogging rights and responsibilities as well as the rights of those they criticize and discuss in blogs.

Peterson, a member of LaFollette Godfrey & Kahn's "litigation and media law teams," according to the bio accompanying her article, also wrote:

As a practical matter, every blogger should know and understand basic defamation standards and the parameters of immunity applied pursuant to section 230. Future blogging defamation cases likely will refine the parameters for liability and immunity with courts basing their decisions, at least in part, on the context of the blog at issue.

Again, I highly recommend Peterson's article. Also see "Local Legal Experts Warn Of Potential Risks Of Blogging."