[Asrg] DNSBL BCP - enough, already, of the amateur lawyering

[Bruce Stephens]

David Wilson <David.Wilson at isode.com> writes:

[...]

> (To be picky, there is no such thing as 'UK' law. Scotland has a
> different legal setup to England and Wales.)
>
> Looking up "libel truth" in UK pages for Google pointed me to:
>
> http://www.swarb.co.uk/lawb/defTrueLibel.shtml
>
> which is from a personal injury solicitors, so has some legal standing.
>
> The important point is that a libel in English law has to be both untrue
> and defamatory.
>
> Something that "causes him to be shunned or avoided" is one means of
> defamation and would seem to be a good description of a DNSBL!

IIUC (and IANAL) the difference with English law is that the defendant
must show that the statement is true.  So (journalists have argued,
anyway) it reverses the usual innocent-until-proven-guilty ordering of
things.  I imagine this wouldn't particularly affect
DNSBLs---presumably you'd easily be able to keep evidence of whatever
your DNSBL is claiming.