It's probably not technically slander, and thus not "illegal", since they included the word "probably" in the title, and it's not provably false. Also, it's hard to sue someone based on a simple, two paragraph announcement for a book that isn't even published yet.
Unfortunately, there's this little matter of "Freedom of Speech" here. The law makes it very difficult to prove "slander", even when the facts are fairly obviously false. For one thing, you have to show malicious intent, and real damages. I'm sure that, if you check the Groklaw site, you will find long discussion threads on what exactly constitutes "slander", and how difficult it is to prove it.
On the other hand, there are plenty of ways we can fight the lie. That is, after all, the reason we have Freedom of Speech.
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Re:illegal
Posted by: Charles Tryon on May 19, 2004 03:07 AMUnfortunately, there's this little matter of "Freedom of Speech" here. The law makes it very difficult to prove "slander", even when the facts are fairly obviously false. For one thing, you have to show malicious intent, and real damages. I'm sure that, if you check the Groklaw site, you will find long discussion threads on what exactly constitutes "slander", and how difficult it is to prove it.
On the other hand, there are plenty of ways we can fight the lie. That is, after all, the reason we have Freedom of Speech.
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