Guess Which Blogger Has Been Taken to Court by Rangers?

As I often say the Scottish courts website is a great source of information and often provides scoops for those happy enough to plough through its pages.

A quick look today revealed a new case on the “calling list”. This means that the action has been raised and served upon the defender, and because at least 21 days have passed the pursuers want to make progress.

Whilst it is not clear precisely what the action is for, I think it is noteworthy that Rangers have taken action.

Who is the lucky blogger to fall victim to Biggart Baillie, the lawyers for Rangers?

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What Makes One a “Rangers Hater”? Is It Anyone Not in the 500 Million Strong Worldwide Rangers Support?

After a brief hiatus, I am back at the blogging again. Apart from penning some thoughts on Hearts and the apparent imminent departure of Mr Romanov from the Scottish football scene, I had been engaged in preparation for, and attending at, the Sheriff Court with my gown on my back again.

I mentioned this briefly on Twitter (can readers imagine my pain in having to compress thoughts into 140 characters?) and was hugely gratified by the kind words and congratulations offered to me.

I would not be back “in the saddle” without having had huge help and support and I am immensely grateful to friends, family and wider acquaintances for their backing.

After the blogging I have done over the last 20 months or so, rattling off a 17 page and 6,000 word submission on the implications of the Tenements (Scotland) Act seemed a breeze. And we got the result we wanted.

But, to reassure anyone who is worried about it (although that number would be very small) I will still be blogging for as long as I find interesting things to write about.

BBC SCOTLAND, FREE SPEECH AND THE MOB by JohnBhoy

JohnBhoy has posted the following as a comment on a thread below. I think it is worth a slot of its own, so here it is.

The views expressed are John’s.

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BBC Scotland has failed us all by capitulating to the mob. Its overall remit for radio is to provide “a speech-led service for listeners seeking programmes about the life, culture and affairs of Scotland”; and within the BBC’s six statements of “public service” is a key function to foster citizenship and civil society. Abandoning a planned programme on sport because of the strident and intolerant views of one section of society is to deny freedom of speech to others and acts in clear opposition to a broadcasting body constituted of the people and for the people.

Free Speech – Lord Justice Leveson, Twitter, Bloggers and Scottish Football

Despite the topic, this is to be a short post (EDITOR – the road to hell is paved with good intentions). After all, as I was saying to a friend today, as my summaries are generally longer than what I am précising, Lord Justice Leveson’s full report of 2,000 pages might take me 4,000 pages to recap!

Instead I want to look at the regulation of bloggers. Leveson LJ addresses this from page 168 of Volume A.

He heard evidence from people responsible for websites including the Guido Fawkes political blog, Popbitch, which is a celebrity gossip site and the Huffington Post – effectively an online-only newspaper.

Lord Justice Leveson on Bloggers

He says, in describing the above at Chapter 3 para 4.6:-

These vastly different sites are all offered to the public in the same way; they all have the same theoretical reach to the entire internet-connected population at the touch of a button (particularly when facilitated by search engines). They are also, with the regulatory exceptions set out above, entirely unregulated, though subject to civil and criminal law in appropriate jurisdictions. However, it is noteworthy that although the blogs cited here are read by very large numbers of people, it should not detract from the fact that most blogs are read by very few people. Indeed, most blogs are rarely read as news or factual, but as opinion and must be considered as such.

As we have seen with issues as diverse as the false accusations against Lord McAlpine, and the riots in England in 2011, there are legal consequences under the civil and criminal law for those who overstep the bounds.

My Response to a Prolific Commenter + Some House Rules re Free Speech

I don’t usually address a blog post to one commenter, but I am going to make an exception here.

Baxterboy was very busy over a seven-hour period late last night, chipping in with twenty separate comments totalling over 1,600 words. Rather than try to answer each one individually on the thread, I think it best to write this separate post, and in doing so to make some general suggestions regarding the site and its comments.

If Baxterboy chooses to respond, as he is entitled to do, then I would be grateful if it is done in the form of a single post or comment.

For the avoidance of doubt, as regular readers will know, most comments submitted to this blog are posted. It takes a lot for them not to be approved, and despite the suggestion of one commenter on Rangers Media (good morning to you) I do not eliminate posts because they get lots of thumbs down. Have a look through the site, and I am sure that you will find lots of thumbed down comments – they are all still there!

I will start with some general comments prompted by Baxterboy.