First of all, I’m off to Adelaide South Australia for a few days. Me no blog no more. Well, not until I get back. I’ll be popping in to see David N Wallace this afternoon. Adelaide will never recover! And yes, Davo, I got the maps and the directions thank you! My preferred drink is – water. Or grapefruit juice. I’m driving. And my dears… don’t worry: I’m practicing safe internet hookup. By tell y’all about it! (joking, I’ve met DNW in real life before).

In time honored tradition, a straight copy and paste from TechRepublic:

Google hands over blogger’s IP address

Google has released information that will result in the identification of an Israeli blogger who used its Blogger.com platform to allegedly slander Shaarei Tikva council members running for re-election….
….While libel can be a civil offense in the United States, it is not a crime. However, the legal situation in Israel is such that it can be tantamount to criminal defamation. In such a scenario, the details of a surfer may be disclosed.

So what really happened? Did Google really set a world precedent by its actions?

Remember when, (I think AOL), censored swear words in your email with a **** ? They soon stopped it when they realised that, legally, they were no longer simply the “postal” service and became liable as the “editors”. Google needs to stop collecting IP addresses, then they can’t hand ’em over. Or we should all start using proxy services.

In 2002, I watched an online community take the material in question and copy and paste it everywhere they could. That stopped a defamation suit in its tracks. Imagine the power if that was done today. But I think this particular story will be on our news radar for some time to come. I hope so anyway.

Be good *waves* I’ll be back before you know it! (I love the way I got Evil, Google and Adelaide in the title, don’t you? )