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Bad Astronomy
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Help UK libel reform

I’ve written about the horrible state of libel laws in the UK before, but there are a couple of new developments:

1) Simon Singh wrote about the issue for the JREF’s Swift blog. He asks people to sign the online petition for reform, and it helps even if you’re not a UK citizen. In general I don’t support online petitions, but in this case it will have a real and important impact; they can present it personally to people who make the laws and show them this is an important issue. I signed. You should too.

2) Simon’s libel case goes before the Court of Appeal in London on Tuesday, February 23 (today for most folks reading this). No doubt the major media will be covering it, as it’s a big story. I’ll try to post something here if and when I hear anything.

You can find out more at the Libel Reform website, including how (if you’re local) you can go downtown to show support for Simon on Tuesday morning at 09:45 (here’s the location).

Share

February 22nd, 2010 9:10 PM Tags: Simon Singh
by Phil Plait in JREF, Skepticism | 13 comments | RSS feed | Trackback >

13 Responses to “Help UK libel reform”

  1. 1.   daijiyobu Says:
    February 22nd, 2010 at 10:27 pm

    Hear, hear.

    -r.c.

  2. 2.   earth2allie Says:
    February 22nd, 2010 at 10:53 pm

    Signed!

    Met Singh once and really liked him as a person and as a scientist. Really hope he gets out of this.

  3. 3.   ScottW Says:
    February 22nd, 2010 at 11:24 pm

    Signed.

  4. 4.   dan satterfield Says:
    February 23rd, 2010 at 2:53 am

    The story got quite a bit of attention on BBC Radio 4 last week Phil.

    I was glad to hear it. The ground swell of support needed to change things is beginning I think.

  5. 5.   Jon Hanford Says:
    February 23rd, 2010 at 3:00 am

    Signed!

  6. 6.   Monkey Says:
    February 23rd, 2010 at 4:29 am

    Signed.

  7. 7.   Jackson Says:
    February 23rd, 2010 at 7:23 am

    Signed. What a dumb law.

  8. 8.   pligg.com Says:
    February 23rd, 2010 at 7:50 am

    Bad Astronomy…

    JREF | I’ve written about the horrible state of libel laws in the UK before, but there are a couple of new developments: 1) Simon Singh wrote about the issue for the J…

  9. 9.   mixonph Says:
    February 23rd, 2010 at 9:25 am

    Does anyone know when the decision is expected?

  10. 10.   G Says:
    February 23rd, 2010 at 10:10 am

    Seconding #9: where’s the best place to keep watch for news? Any idea when there will be any?

  11. 11.   Jon Hanford Says:
    February 23rd, 2010 at 10:11 am

    OT, but well worth the diversion. ArXiv recently posted a paper entitled “Sub-arcsecond Morphology of Planetary Nebulae” and they aren’t kidding, with many obscure PNe like HaTr 10 in magnificent color! Copy and paste to (http:) //arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/1002/1002.3249v1.pdf. Prepare to be blown away. :)

  12. 12.   Lone Wolf Says:
    February 23rd, 2010 at 11:26 am

    Signed.

  13. 13.   Daniel J. Andrews Says:
    February 23rd, 2010 at 5:10 pm

    Signed, and forwarded the petition email (I’m on the mailing list) to some friends–something I haven’t done before so they know I feel strongly about this issue, and I’m hoping they’ll sign as well.

Leave a Reply





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      Phil Plait, the creator of Bad Astronomy, is an astronomer, lecturer, and author. After ten years working on Hubble Space Telescope and six more working on astronomy education, he struck out on his own as a writer. He's written two books, dozens of magazine articles, and 12 bazillion blog articles. He is a skeptic and fights the abuse of science, but his true love is praising the wonders of real science.


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