Blogger Insurance now offered

This article notes that web publishers (bloggers) can now get libel insurance, a necessity for anyone that allows strangers to publish on their blog as comments. Also, in some countries, simply hyperlinking to a defamatory page is considered republishing a libel and you could be sued.

In the article Online Publishing Risks Create Need for Libel Insurance, we see that there is a significant risk in blogging:

"As the Internet has flourished in recent years, online publishers of all types have found themselves the target of litigation. All of the standard liabilities that plague offline publishers have migrated to the online world, including claims for libel, invasion of privacy and infringement of intellectual property.

Everyone publishing online -- from mega publishers like Dow, Jones & Company, to small online publishers like Gizmodo.com, to bloggers and freelancers -- is at risk."

We also see that the risks for bloggers are far greater because of the diverse libel laws around the globe. What may not be defamatory in the USA could be a criminal act in some countries where libel and defamation are serious crimes:

"Online publishers have a greater risk of being sued abroad than traditional publishers. While many U.S. media companies limit distribution of their print publications to the United States and perhaps a select few foreign countries, online publications can be accessed anywhere in the world at the click of a mouse.

This increases the risk that an online publisher will be sued abroad by plaintiffs searching for more favorable libel laws than in the United States.

Typically, libel laws outside the United States are far less forgiving to publishers, many imposing liability even when an error has occurred without fault on the part of the publisher. It is therefore imperative that online publishers ensure that their policy will cover them if they are sued abroad."

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