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This book discusses the ostensible reasons for this legislation and
examines the law in light of traditional principles of extending
recognition to foreign judgments as an essential aspect of comity
among nations. In order to properly evaluate the SPEECH Act and its
likely implications, this study critically examines the ongoing
degradation of First Amendment speech protections in the US and the
developing English common law defamation privileges and reaches
some startling conclusions. In this first critical study of the
SPEECH Act, Harry Melkonian not only examines the specifics and
likely application of this legislation as well as the underlying
phenomenon of Libel Tourism but also provides a radically new
perspective on the incipient convergence of US First Amendment and
English common law freedom of speech and defamation principles.
Uniquely, the book approaches the concept of convergence from the
viewpoint of both doctrinal law and free speech theory and
amalgamates the results through application of the traditional law
of comity among nations. Defamation, Libel Tourism and the SPEECH
Act of 2010 is an essential book for everyone involved with
international legal aspects of the media including publishers,
broadcasters, as well as legal professionals and academics.
Freedom of expression in the age of the internet--communication
without borders--is a frequent subject of debate both on a
political and legal level. However, the theoretical underpinnings
have generally been confined to legal and philosophical analysis.
These existing theories are not entirely satisfying because they
cannot explain freedom of speech beyond the individual. This book
presents arguments that freedom of expression in the twenty-first
century can be approached as a social phenomenon through the
application of sociological theory. Existing approaches are either
confined to political communication or focus on individual
wellbeing. In this book, sociological arguments for freedom of
expression are derived from both Emile Durkheim's classical social
theory and the contemporary theories of Jurgen Habermas.
Application of these theories demonstrates that freedom of speech
is essential from a societal point of view. This book is the first
attempt to bring sociological theory into the free speech debate.
Almost always viewed as an individual right, this study, using
classical sociological theory, argues that freedom of expression is
essential as a group right and that without an expansive freedom of
expression, modern society simply cannot efficiently operate.
Viewed through the lens of sociological theory, freedom of
expression is seen to be not only desirable as an individual
privilege but also essential as a societal right. To validate the
use of classical sociological theory, the author demonstrates that
empirical evidence concerning the demise of criminal libel is
predicted by Durkheim's theory and that recent archeological
evidence supports the continuing vitality of classical sociology.
To bring sociological theory into the twenty-first century, the
contributions of contemporary German sociologist Jurgen Habermas
are also employed. This modern theory also validates the classical
theory. Once viewed through the lens of social theory, freedom of
expression as justified by traditional legal and philosophical is
explored and then the two approaches are compared. While sociology
and philosophy are not at odds, they are not perfectly congruent
because one focuses on societal needs while the other is based on
the individual. When combined, a more comprehensive perspective can
be constructed and, perhaps, a more accurate need for freedom of
expression is established. This is an important and ground-breaking
book for political, media, and legal studies.
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