re: thread suspended (free speech)
Sandys, putting aside the issue of "freedom of speech" (or "free speech"), let's just look at "freedom" for a moment.
This is a "free country" just as there are many "free countries" around the world. However freedom does not mean you are free to do anything you want. Every "free country" has laws which their citizens must follow, whether they like them or not. If people dont like certain laws, the right way to address that is to try to change those laws, not just simply break them. Otherwise those free countries would fall into anarchy.
Generally laws in free countries are formulated so that individuals cannot simply chose to harm others or infringe the rights of others. Very simple and reasonable.
Similarly while we enjoy freedom of speech in this country, there are limitations - even in the home of free speech (the US) there are limitations. In this country there is a limitation to free speech which is called defamation. Like it or not it exists. While it exists we have to abide by that limitation, otherwise we infringe on the rights of others or harm them - in the case of defamation thats generally their reputation.
While you may not like the defamation law, and some have called it arcane, quite frankly in this internet age where cowards can sit anonymously behind an internet nickname and without any facts to back their statements or without any accountability make up lies about public figures, I support this particular law. Even before this episode I felt that way, but now as just one person out of many who have been adversely affected by someone choosing to anonymously break the law, I support it even more strongly.
In my experience the people who complain most about these types of limitations on their freedoms are the ones who choose to operate just on the other side of those limitations and want to shield themselves while they go about harming or infringing the rights of others. They get no sympathy from me when they fall foul of the law and I will support the rights of those being infringed upon.
