Libel – and Privilege

[Worrals in the wilds]

Free speech is an accepted given.

No it isn't. There isn't a shred of legislation, bill of rights or constitutional guarantee to free speech in Australia. Even if it were mentioned in an Act (as the Crimes Act 'rights' are) that Act could be rescinded by Parliament. If it were added to the Constitution it could only be taken out by referendum, but the Australian people voted against that in the 1988 referendum.

UN conventions are not legally binding and the worst thing the UN can do to a country that ignores them is throw them out of the UN.
Nor is posting on the internet speaking, it's legally publishing.

UTS: Internet and online services - Communications Law Centre
Have a read.

[Quokka]

Never log onto PPRuNe at work!

And I guess the possibly would always exist that a airline employees wife or errant teenage child logged onto their computer while they were out in the garden and typed away to their hearts content, unbeknownst to the employee.

Some years ago at the end of some work in the back office and after a quick perusal of PPRuNe, I got up and walked out the door of the room (open room shared by a few) to the toilet with PPRuNe still logged on in one of the browser's tabs. My mistake. It was only a minute and I was back in the room to find a colleague from my team sitting at the terminal that I had been using and typing rapidly on the keyboard. Upon seeing me enter the room he appeared somewhat nervous and uncomfortable, stood-up and walked out of the room. When I sat down, the terminal was still logged into my work account on the system and not his account. The Internet browser was closed.

When I next attempted to log onto PPRuNe at home, I discovered that I'd been given a couple of weeks holiday by the Mods at the end of which, I had to reaffirm my compliance with PPRuNe's Terms & Conditions before being released from PPRuNe purgatory.

To this day I have absolutely no idea what that Air Traffic Controller posted in my name on PPRuNe and I chose not to pursue it further as I perused the lucrative overseas contract I held in one hand that night over a glass of wine with my resignation only days away.

I would, however, like to thank the Mods for moving quickly to remove the post and to protect all concerned from any damage.

To everyone else on PPRuNe, I would give the bleedingly obvious caution... don't access PPRuNe at work.

Some of your professional colleagues are not as professional as you might expect and never assume that they were all inculcated with the same values, norms and mores of behaviour that you were brought up with in your family.

A lesson in life... and people.

[gobbledock]

LHLisa, welcome to a democratic society! The same is happening in the port of Gladstone. Dredging and environmental raping sanctioned and allowed by government with consequences starting to appear 12 or so months into the projects. Fish are dying, ****e is being stirred up from the bottom of the ocean bed, fishermen are being put out of business and the sociological divide in Gladstone is increasing. Why? So China can fuel it's hunger for energy and feed it's needs from Australian resources and the government can profit as well as big business.

I can't wait to see Gladstone in 20 years time. No doubt we will be remembering the 'gateway to the Great Barrier Reef' and reading book about how pristine it once was before the city was turned into The Murray River.
The best politician is one in a pine box. Fukers.

[LHLisa]

What is happening in Gladstone is terrible, I am from North Queensland, and I am horrified by what is being done to our great barrier reef. I wonder if that is part of why QLD Labor did loose the last election, total lack of respect and safeguard for our world heritage site.

There have been moves to have a Human rights charter officially recognised within Australia, as currently we don't have one everywhere. Shocking really.

So gobbledock is right unfortunately. I think of it as a given right, when its really an assumed right.

Politicians can be awful. But we do need to engage in the process unfortunately to try to change it. At the risk of offending everyone again I do think the greens policies are the most progressive as far as offering protections to people versus protections to big business.

In American corporations are people . Yes, corporations are considered people and have additional rights because of that. Sadly they seem to have all the rights of people, but none of the responsibilities of people. That is not the direction we want Australia to take .

[T28D]

Lisa in Autralia a Corporation is the same as a natural person, rights and responsibilities are very close to the U.S. Companies Law enshrined here in the Corporations Law.

[Kharon]

Food for thought

Sydney airport debate - Ben Sandilands.

PT extract - Earlier today I read some disturbing documents relating to the administration of air safety in this country that I wouldn’t touch with a barge pole unless they were subject to the legal privilege of being tabled in parliament, or admitted in court during litigation.

Clever fellah, honed survival instinct - even the press has limits, good read anyway. Watch this space though, it could get interesting, then again - maybe not, as the spectre of libel raises it's ugly head, again.

[LHLisa]

Just like a girl

Can I just mention here what everyone here probably already knows.

Calling someone "mean" names hurts. And slamming someone because their views are different to your own isn't great either. And maybe I myself have even been guilty of this, but I hope not.

On the seniority thread in the cabin crew section (which I started maybe naively thinking I could change things for the better) I have been slammed - not in the way I want to be though. Anyway, it hurt. I cried, weak hey.

I guess what I am trying to say is lets all encourage discussion on the issues that matter to us, but let's also try to remember our shared humanity, and the vulnerabilities that brings with it.

Bullying is not nice
This post probably seems off point to this thread but I think it relates to libel.

And I liked having a job. Now I have realised all my posts here are equal to publishing I think I may not have a job. Some will be glad to see me go.

[LHLisa]

Casa

It could be a little worrying how self regulated some airlines are.I am new to posting on social media, and this thread has been very informative.

Can I also say that when I started posting here a couple of months ago I felt upset by what felt like sexists remarks here.

But hey, if I'm controversial enough to post on a male dominated forum I probably need to toughen up.

Initially a couple of posts by gobble dock upset me, but now I think I might be his biggest fan ( if he is a he? ) . The same can be said for a few other posters comments towards me. Shaken, then stirred, now a fan.

But the possibly slightly sexists comments have been flattering and fine compared to the nastiest directed at me on the cabin crew section. I suspect I may be banned for life for posting this . From the pilots section as well as the existing cabin crew thread ban. I will miss the banter . Hooray for free speech, but say no to bullying.

[Worrals in the wilds]

I haven't read the seniority thread, but I take it that like so many F/A threads in the past, it turned into a slanging match. That's one of the reasons I don't usually read them.

Of course many F/A posters are great, thoughtful and witty writers (particularly the Jetblast mod Juud, who is also female) and it's a minority that give the group a bad name. So much so that for a while F/A issues weren't allowed to be discussed in DG&P; has that changed again or was this thread in the CC forum?

Getting handbagged by a crazed flight attendant poster is part of the PPRuNe experience. I got slammed for something and to this day I still don't know what I said that was so insulting. I edited the post to fix the grammar and then apparently it wasn't insulting anymore.

Now I have realised all my posts here are equal to publishing I think I may not have a job.

The bottom line; if you choose to bag out your current employer online or in real life and they find out; don't expect them to be sympathetic. It's a risk you take. If you were a current or former Commonwealth public servant you would also take the risk of imprisonment (Crimes Act s70), which is why so few take part in these sort of discussions. Always assume that what you put on here might end up in a book with your name on it and you can't go wrong.

By the way, you're not the only female PPRuNer by a long shot. There are also several female regulars who prefer not to make their gender known on the forum, which is fair enough.

With hindsight, Worrals Carries On might have been a better title to use. I only joined to take part in one particular discussion...

[Sarcs]

LHLisa perhaps this site might help you in regards to the bullying, go to this...Chris Richardson psychologist, Forensic Reports, Family Law Court and Social Reports, Criminal Compensation and Presentence Reports, Cairns, Brisbane, Townsville and cape York and then open up the E-Books & Blogs tab, then click on the "times good and bad blog"....whala!
....and guess what it is from a female professional!

[gobbledock]

Left Hand or Right Hand, doesnt bother me Lisa!

I have been slammed - not in the way I want to be though.

Yes indeed I am certainly becoming a greater fan by the day. Does it matter if I am male or female?
But you have a way to go before you are my Number 1 pruner. I still have a soft spot for Qantas number 1 footstool and serial plane spotter Ken Borough, and where would we be without CASA's very own Flyingfiend who coincidently has gone rather quiet since being 'outed' (and I aint talking about his sexuality!

[LHLisa]

Power - and maybe priviledge.

I read recently that sometimes, in some situations, having no power at all can in fact be a very powerful thing.

The example given was very extreme, so I apologise if it offends anyone. But it went something like this:

A bad person takes a hostage , and holds a knife to the hostages throat. The bad person says "Do what I want, otherwise I will do something very bad to you that you don't like". In this situation the bad person has all the power. And it appears that the hostage has no power.

However, the hostage does have a way of taking back their power. If the hostage says to the bad person "Go ahead and do something bad to me, I don't mind/care whatever (trying not to inflame the probably unstable person weilding their power)", then suddenly the hostage is potentially the most powerful person in the room, situation, company etc etc.

This may seem obvious to many people here, but when I read it recently I found it really interesting. obviously it is a pretty bad example to be using on an aviation forum.... but anyway.

Another interesting way of looking at it was (well interesting to me anyway? ) was "Beware of ugly people, they have nothing to loose."

[porch monkey]

Sorry, my curiosity has got the better of me., Lisa, what way would you like to be slammed?

[Hydromet]

Only slightly drifting, but until the law was changed a few years ago, you could be liable for damages under common law, for claiming that someone else's land was flood prone, even if you could demonstrate the truth of the statement. Back in the early '70s the organisation I worked for produced a whole series of flood maps for many towns in the state. It was then realised that we could use these internally, but not issue them as we could be sued.

[Kharon]

Timely discussion

In light of the 'new' Pprune privacy policy.

[Frank Arouet]

Go ahead and do something bad to me, I don't mind/care

Isn't suicide illegal?

Crikey, some are fick!