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Bob Geldof's Production Company Threatens Cyber Libel Action

reporter | 05.02.2009 13:06 | Indymedia Server Seizure | Other Press | Repression | South Coast | World

Here's a blogger who's come under threat for criticising (UK) Kent County Council's internet-based Kent TV service. The station, paid for by tax payers in the county,  is provided by Bob Geldof's production company Ten Alps. Private Eye reports (1229, p. 11):


Tony Flaig received a pompous letter from Jo Phillips, ``director of communications'' for Ten Alps, claiming he had made ``inappropriate, unlawful and damaging allegations about Kent TV and the people who work there''.

Ms Phillips, who has since left the company, concluded: ``Please therefore ensure that your blog does not publish any further defamatory statements about Kent TV. I trust you will not do so, but if you do, you should note that Ten Alps reserves the right, if appropriate to protect the reputations of our staff, initiate legal proceedings without further reference to you.''

It's unclear from the report whether Phillips made specific objections to particular assertions - a vague complaint of ``defamatory statements'' would fail to meet the Pre-action Protocol for Defamation. Flaig also received the following, from Geoff Wild, Kent County Council's director of law and governance: "If you continue to choose to exercise your right to free speech in the manner that you do - as is your right - you must expect to take whatever consequences the law provides"

And under UK libel law, that means Flaig, a railway track-layer by trade, would be forced to defend himself under presumption of guilt and without Legal Aid against a powerful organisation with infinitely larger resources. Even if Flaig is confident he's done nothing wrong, making a stand means gambling with financial ruin. That is what ``the law provides'' in the UK.

reporter

Comments

Hide the following 5 comments

I don't like Geldoff by Corneilius

05.02.2009 15:59

Good little song by Corneilius, contains soime good info on Geldoff too

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH6gRTIACTA

I don't like Geldoff


http://bignewsmargate.blogspot.com/

05.02.2009 19:41

It might help to actually link to the blog in question, seeing as it is central to this story!

It seems to be this one:  http://bignewsmargate.blogspot.com/

anon


Would bob care to comment

06.02.2009 01:28

I received a letter from some jumped up piss pot Media firm, who choose to defame me by making false statements. When I contacted them offering to remove any specific, posting, not surprisingly the person on the end of the phone, was at loss to clearly identify what if anything was actually defamatory.

I've spent a lot of time on this crap, what my local authority fail to accept is that their contractor is effectively acting on their behalf so it was a disappointment that even now the top bods have failed to have the good grace to apologize.

A big thank you to people like yourselves and Private Eye for standing up for freedom of speech.

Perhaps the most ironic thing is I pay taxes to these people, also I was intrigued to see the a company director of the Media firm mouth off something about this country giving him the freedom to say what he wanted to, I just thought at the time why not walk across the corridor from your office and ask your F****** Director of communication her thoughts.

You'll have to excuse the oblique references but these bastards might well be capable of sueing me into the stone age. anyway to check for yourself visit the site in question and look those postings which refer to Freedom of speech Whotsit TV there are labels in the side bar which if clicked will bring up the relevant stuff

Even more ironic is I'm sure these tossers think I'm some dangerous left wing nutter, fact is I voted tory in last county council elections and have already promised to my vote again to the same county councilor.

Grammer not my strong point so excuse any errrors

tony


I +deserve to get kissed+

06.02.2009 14:04

In 1978 I was the only 'Boomtown Rats' fan at my school. I loved their lyrics, their style.

Their fourth album was crap even by my standards, and I was the last to admit it. By the time Live Aid came around Geldof was already a has-been celeb. By that time he was already sucking establishment dick for personal motives.

I have no doubt that Live Aid was genuine Geldof emotion, it had a huge effect on me at the time, but I was already cynical about him personally. The papers bought it because of the A and B list factor, but I knew Geldoff was genuine.

The path he has pursued has propelled his daughters to their mothers fate. He is greatly responsible for their mothers fate. Speaking as an adult I think any post here that even name checks a Geldof should be hidden. It is all propaganda and self-promotion now.

He wrote a fair amount of half decent songs. At the time I thought I'd never lose those songs but growing up this is the only song I kept.

Decent, intelligent people are corrupted. Every fucking day. Do you know Bob got in trouble for passing Maos 'Little red book'? Not so maoist now, as Dido would say. Still, I think Bob should be given an easy ride for his later mistakes for having the sense to write these lyrics.





On a night like this I deserve to get kissed
At least once or twice
You come over to my place screaming blue murder,
Needing someplace to hide.
Well, I wish you'd keep quiet,
Imaginations run riot in these paper-thin walls.
And when the place comes ablaze with a thousand dropped names
I don't know who to call.
But I got a friend over there in the government block
And he knows the situation and he's taking stock,
I think I'll call him up now, gonna put him on the spot tonight.

They saw me there in the square
When I was shooting my mouth off about saving some fish.
Now could that be construed as some radical's views or some liberals wish.

And it's so hot outside, and the air is so sweet,
And when the pressure drop is heavy I don't wanna hear you speak.
You know most killing is committed at 90 degrees.
When it's too hot to breathe and it's too hot to think.

There's always someone looking at you.
Someone looking at you
They're always looking at you.
Tonight.
They are looking at you tonight.

And I wish you'd stop whispering.
Don't flatter yourself, nobody's listening.
Still it makes me nervous, those things you say.
You may as well shout it from the roof
Scream it from your lungs
Spit it from you mouth
There's a spy in the sky
There's a noise on the wire
There's a tap on the line
And for every paranoid's desire...

There's always someone looking at you.
Someone looking at you...
They're always looking at you.

On a night like this I deserve to get kissed
At least once or twice

ambigram


Geld Wolf

06.02.2009 17:08

The Dutch call him Geld(money) Wolf, I think that sums him up nicely. he's a creep and he has found his own niche, rhetoric is a very important part of political spin say one thing and do the opposite so while Geldwolf promotes himself as a helper of the poor and needy he is in fact exploiting them to make himself stinking rich.. what a MFSOB ..

Grrrr


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