Blogme.gr – a Greek information and RSS aggregation website – was shut down and its administrator, Antonis Tsipropoulos, was sued for a blog entry that appeared on the aggregation pages – originating from another blog.
Effectively this is like suing Google for the results it yields.
A public person (Antonis is not releasing potentially sensitive details yet) has sued Blogme.gr for libel and obscene/ satirical content. This person was satirised through the pages of some other blog, which was registered in the directory of Blogme.gr and in the RSS flow.
Antonis got a visit from the police officers of the Electronic Crime Team and the public prosecutor. His hard disk was taken and he was arrested. Under police escort his was led to the Central Security Police Station in Athens. He also stayed overnight in a detention room. The next day he was led in front of the Public Prosecutor in handcuffs. Here I want to stress that this is not in any way unreasonable or illegal – since civil proceedings were under way the police and the public prosecutor needed to follow a certain procedure – which they did.
It is the first time that an aggregating website is prosecuted for content that belongs to another website.
Any user of the internet knows that a website like blogme exists as a collection of information. The users also understand that blogs are personal webpages were people express themselves – and each persons’ blog is their own responsibility.
Also note that the blog with the allegedly insulting content does not only appear in blogme but in several Greek aggregators. None of those was sued apart from blogme. Antonis nevertheless stresses that he is not advocating suing every other website that includes content of links to the allegedly insulting blog.
I am not saying that this ‘public person’ did not have the right to sue. But if he really wanted to he needed to sue the blogger that allegedly insulted them and not the administrator of an aggregating service. How is anyone going to prove that Antonis is at fault for something that someone else wrote? I would really love to see that.
————————-
IMPORTANT NOTES
All of the above is translated from Greek. Please find the original here.
It is impossible for me to know details or facts at this time so please keep in mind that I am translating.
On a personal note I believe Antonis – not least because a similar ‘misunderstanding’ has happened between an artist with an internet project and the Greek Police. [see details here and here]
——————-
Also in the Media
The Register – Greek blogger arrest infuriates world By Kieren McCarthy
Ovi Magazine – Would you ever sue Google? – By Sofia Gkiousou
Ovi Magazine – What happened with BLOGME.gr – By Thanos Kalamidas
BBC Mention (see under 1030 Athens)
The Inquirer – Blog gets censored in Greece – By Adamson Rust
Slashdot – Greek Blog Aggregator Arrested – by kdawson
Technorati Tags: Tsipropoulos, libel, Blogme.gr, Electronic Crime, prosecute, Greek
[...] ΈγÏαψα Îνα σÏντομο κομμάτι για το θÎμα blogme.gr στα αγγλικα και το ανÎβασα στο Academia Nervosa. [...]
A P A R A D E K T O !!!
A I S X O S !! !
Min to vazete katw paidia !
[...] http://www.digital-era.org/academia/?p=71 This entry is filed under ΑΣΤΥÎΟΜΟΚΡΑΤΙΑ. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Leave a Reply [...]
..stupid people, uneducated idiots, how someone can set limits or even try to stop the freedom of expresion ? shame & again shame..
[...] read more | digg story Filed under: Misc | [...]
[...] and at Academia Nervosa [...]
[...] For more details check these : [1] , [2] [...]
[...] Il proprietario di Blogme.gr, un sito che cataloga i blog greci attraverso l’ aggregazione RSS e’ stato querelato da un personaggio “noto†per diffamazione. La causa era che nella lista degli ultimi post della blogosfera greca che Blogme.gr aggregava c’ era un blog che aveva contenuto satirico su quello personaggio “notoâ€. [...]
[...] ΠεÏισσότεÏα εδω… (αλλά και εδω, εδω και εδω…) [...]
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/02/rixstep_spam_case_probe/
http://rixstep.com/1/20051026,00.shtml
http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=328039
Aggregating blogs in Greece could get you sued…
Article in english about the BlogMe.gr case….
[...] Related articles (in english): Wikinews, Kieren McCarthy, Martin Belam, Academia Nervosa, Teacher dude (1, 2), karaflos Metanastis, Don’ t kiss The Frog, Serenity (1, 2), x-psilikatzoy, krizhere (1, 2), deviousDiva, RockingChair, Flubberwinkle, Political Words, open, in.site.rs, ANemos, EllasDevil, dimitri Posted by Oneiros Filed in Internet [...]
[...] ΕξÎφÏασα την ίδια άποψη και όταν Îγινε η φασαÏία με το Blogme.gr. [...]
[...] Τα Îλεγα Ï€Ïιν από Îναν χÏόνο για τον Αντώνη τον ΤσιπÏόπουλο και την σÏλληψη του και τα μετÎφÏασα και στα αγγλικά. Συμμετείχαμε πολλοί σε αυτή την δικτυακή υποστήÏιξη – Ï„ÏŽÏα ήÏθε η ÏŽÏα να πάμε και στα δικαστήÏια στην ΠαÏασκευή. [...]
[...] Blogme.gr – a Greek information and RSS aggregation website – was shut down and its administrator, Antonis Tsipropoulos, was sued for a blog entry that appeared on the aggregation pages – originating from another blog.Effectively this is like suing Google for the results it yields.Source: ACADEMIA NERVOSA. See also Don’t Kiss The FrogThis reminds me of something…Also (I almost forgot…), there is something else to mention here, concerning the situation in Greece.Want more? Enjoy! [...]
[...] Effectively this is like suing Google for the results it yields. Source: ACADEMIA NERVOSA. See also Don’t Kiss The Frog [...]