''Keith-Smith v Williams'' is a 2006

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

case that confirmed that existing

laws applied to internet discussion. It was important because it was seen as the first UK internet libel case that represented two individuals rather than one party being an

Internet Service Provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...

, and was the first British case involving a successful prosecution of an individual poster within a chat room. The ''

Manchester Evening News The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 201 ...

'' claimed that this contradicted a common assumption among bloggers that it was the publisher and not the writer who was responsible for any libel claims that they may generate. Mark Stephens, the head of media law at Stephens Finer Innocent, characterised the case as "a dark day for freedom of speech with broad implications", which was denied by the plaintiff

Michael Keith Smith Michael Keith Smith (1953 – 3 July 2010),Michael Keith Smith Michael Keith Smith (1953 – 3 July 2010),Yahoo Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo! Inc. (2017–present), Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds ma ...

discussion group with about 100 members, damages were awarded as the remarks were available throughout the world.Smith v Williams (UK, 2006)
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References

{{reflist, 2 English tort case law English defamation case law High Court of Justice cases Internet censorship in the United Kingdom 2006 in United Kingdom case law Yahoo! litigation 2006 in England