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Toronto

Hey I finally made it to Toronto! I met up with Rannie last night for some beers, and I think the tiredness hit me, I got a bit pissed – way too easily.

The train ride from New York Penn Station to Toronto is a long (12 hour) tiring experience – but I got to see some great scenery around upstate New York.

I’ve been having a look around today, Toronto is a nice town. It’s raining though. I had a call down to the Train Station this morning, all of Canada’s media were down there covering the 50th anniversary of the underground system – the Prime Minister announced $1 Billion investment for upgrading the system. Some more places to visit – I hope to post some pictures soon.

Rannie has posted a rather dubious one of me that he took last night. I’m one of those people that finds it hard to look at photos of themselves. Or are we all like that?

My response to John Gray's letter

Dear Mr. Given:

I am writing in response to the letter you sent me, dated March 9, 2004, regarding a November 17, 2003 post I made on my weblog that referenced information on another website regarding John Gray (“the post”). In the letter, you stated that my post was libelous and demanded that I publish a correction on my website, pursuant to Section 48a of the California Civil Code. I decline your request, because I do not believe that my statements were libelous, based on my review of your letter and of California case law.

As a preliminary matter, I am astounded by your suggestion that you might initiate legal action against me in California. I live in Ireland, and I publish a noncommercial, passive website that is hosted on servers located in the United Kingdom. Legal proceedings in California would pose an undue and unreasonable burden on me, and a California state court would have no personal jurisdiction over me, under well-established law. See, e.g., Cybersell, Inc. v. Cybersell, Inc., 130 F.3d 414, 419 (9th Cir. 1997) (holding that there was no personal jurisdiction over a Florida corporation that conducted “no commercial activity” on “an essentially passive home page on the web”).

Even if a California court had jurisdiction, it is clear that my statements were not libelous. It is indisputable that John Gray is a public figure under U.S. law. According to his own website (http://www.marsvenus.com/detailedbiography.php), Gray is “the best-selling relationship author of all time,” and the author of “the number one best-selling book of the last decade,” having sold “30 million Mars and Venus books.” As a public figure, Gray could not prevail in a suit unless he showed that I acted with “actual malice,” that is “knowledge that [the weblog post] was false” or with “reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.” New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 280 (1964). It is highly unlikely that you could meet this burden, given that my post quoted a web page containing information about John Gray that I believed to be true.

Based on the information on your letter, I cannot conclude that my post was false, much less libelous. Despite your blanket statements that my post was “false” and “libelous,” you did not dispute the specific information in the post regarding Gray’s biographical information, such as the claim that John Gray received his undergraduate degree from an unaccredited institution. Additional research I have undertaken has not revealed information that suggests that my post was false, and the post was an accurate quotation of a source (buzz.weblogs.com) upon which I relied. You complain of only five words of which I was the original author “John Gray is a fraud” which are “classic rhetorical hyperbole which cannot reasonably be interpreted as stating actual facts.” Seelig v. Infinity Broadcasting Corp., 119 Cal. Rptr. 2d 108, 117 (1999) (internal citation and quotation omitted). Such statements are not libelous under California law. Id.

Given that my post was not libelous, I decline your request for removal of the post and the posting of a correction on my website. I assume that you will not pursue this frivolous claim any further.

Sincerely,

Gavin Sheridan

On the other side…

Well I finally made it to the other side of the pond – I got myself a flight to Newark and am now hiding out in New Jersey. Rannie says I missed a great night, with up to 30 people out – all I can say to that is “Feck that anyway”, which translates to I’m really sorry I missed it.

Well anyway I hope to hook up with some of those nice people in Toronto soon, I plan on getting a train in the morning from Penn Station New York to Toronto – arriving there at 19.44.

Any ideas on a nice place to stay?

Is rap music the key to stopping war?

Many political rappers have expressed against the war, either publicly or in their lyrics. Political rap has an important role to play. It offers people a real criticism of the government’s policy. An engaged rapper is a fighter and a social commentator.
Continue reading “Is rap music the key to stopping war?”

Toronto Blog Bash

On the condition that I do get a flight tomorrow, I will be going for a few cold ones with the friendly bloggers of Toronto, who have organised some beers at 7pm in Cest What? A provisional list of attendees…(that I know of)

Eastern Blog
Voxpopgirl
Photo Junkie
Tripledoubleyou
Consolation Champs
And Cory Doctorow has said he will try and make it down for an hour or so, he has some prior commitments.


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