Monday, January 31, 2011

Bloggers Unite - for the Right to Freedom of Online Speech

Please pardon the quotation "Mark"s (geddit?) I am not fluent in legalese but have to word things very sensitively as a JiC.

*This is purely a work of fiction and has no relation to any events, past or present, real or fake*

(there we go, all nice and "fictional")
It came to me in a dream once that a "Well known and respected blogger", if not the most known, was being taken to court over a review written on their Blog.

A little Googling goes a long way, check out what pops up for the search string suing bloggers for reviews:

Four Questions To Ask Before Suing Bloggers
1) Are you prepared for negative coverage?

2) Is it really a problem?

3) Will legal action solve the problem?

4) Can you work with them rather than against them?


The whole idea of suing someone for having an opinion is ridiculous and lame, regardless of where it is implemented, and a sign of some Legal depts having way too much free time on their hands.

Now, said blogger would be gearing up to appear in court, from my limited but thorough experience with Law, thank you John Grisham for all those wonderful novels, I believe "they" will base their case on the sole fact that a video was made of the food preparation and that somehow violates their rights as an establishment, privacy laws etc. They will not be attacking the review itself because, it is just that, a review.

Kuwait does not have a resident critic, and they cannot be angered at one person voicing his opinion.

Given the recent events that are taking place, with emancipations and voicing of opinions to the highest levels, it seems a likely idea for people to follow suit, hypothetically.

This "hypothetical" watchdog that is planning to sue this "hypothetical" blogger in a completely "hypothetical" situation, should be informed by the blogging community at large, under their real names and not aliases, that such behavior is widely unacceptable and has already resulted in irreparable dammage to their brand identity, as one of the main concerns of establishments operating in the 21st century is customer feedback.

Have you never heard of the phrase, "the customer is always right?"

I believe that this country has a wide network of interconnected blogs, we are a community of sorts, of differents shapes and sizes, races and religions, tastes and preferences; this is a blow to the community as a whole.

So, as a community as a whole, a "hypothetical" action is required, of voicing discontent in a civil manner, by writing to the "hypothetical" watchdog and informing them of our "distaste" for the justice dish they are serving... No pun intended, honest!

The term "class action" comes to mind, a class action voicing of opinion, separately or in, groups? Together or at separate times?

A weekend is a great time to go to the mall, isn't it? To get some fresh air, and get some things off your chest (and out of your wallet too, but that is another story).

Imagine if you will, a "hypothetical" situation, in which bloggers were able to identify with each other via, caps? t-shirts? similar color scheme? Who knows, and each would take it upon themselves to walk in line, single file, at regular intervals, into the focal point for the matter-at-hand, and voice their opinion, in a civil manner, to the intended person (not just anyone).

Wouldn't that make the world a better place?




"That was, Cold Blooded... UNITY"

4 comments:

Nicole said...

It's a shame that it has come to that.
I wouldn't have expected a reaction like this here in Kuwait.
I had waiters in Hungary argue with me about the food being exactly right or explaining to me why it hasn't, using excuses which I didn't care for.
But someone suing me for writing a bad review?

You might be right on the Video point, but a Restaurant is sort of a public place, no?
Not sure what the laws here are regarding that.

And unity sounds good. I think we already have that here in Kuwait. I have not seen the bloggy world so connected as here, even though it's mostly virtual and loose.
I haven't seen this in any other country.
Maybe because most of us are strangers in this place?

I know one thing though, this will backfire for the Restaurant big time.
That whole thing is just way past ridiculous!

LorD AymZ said...

Nicole; I agree with you 110%.

The bloggers of Kuwait are a rare anomaly in the blogverse.

i wrote a while ago about an experience i had with The 3 Club; I wrote a rather strong article against them, and was surprised when I got a call from them later on apologising for my misconstruing of the subject, and offering me a tour of their facility. I voluntarily took down the post and wrote a new one commending them.

I guess we will have to wait and see what transpires, this is going to be a landMark case if it does go thru to courts.

I dont think anyone will eat @ "that place", word travels like wildfire in Kuwait, benefits of a small populace ;)

Anonymous said...

How about bitching (badmouthing)about ruling family & government of kuwait? Is it punishable by q8 law? I do it a lot nowadays everywhere i go cos they pissed me of. Thieves. Criminals. Shameless bedouns...

LorD AymZ said...

i think that is still "off-the-table", you can go to the Kuwait wikileaks website and see the dirt there tho.