Free Speech — Virtually: Legal Constraints on Web Journals Surprise Many 'Bloggers'

“But since many bloggers have no background in publishing, they often come to the medium unaware of the rules that apply, and complaints are becoming more common. Many people publish [weblogs] as if they were untouchable, assuming that because what they write appears in a virtual world, it won’t come back to burn them in the “real” world. Many overlook the fact that their rants can potentially reach millions of people when posted on the Internet. The same law that relates to publishing in the offline world, generally speaking, applies to material posted publicly on a Web log…” —Free Speech — Virtually: Legal Constraints on Web Journals Surprise Many ‘Bloggers’ WashPost [registration; link will expire])