did you even bother reading the paperwork on this?
the line about 'spitting' at Khalaji is right in Hoder's post.
Fuck! I know that, for you, taking a knee-jerk political position trumps the need for things like, say, fact-checking. But still! Had you bothered to even read the very thing you're reporting on, you would've seen that it's a very clear case of defamation.
so what if he said that people should spit in khalaji's face? People say worse things than that everyday about all kinds of public figures, including people in office. Do you want to shut down 99% of websites and blogs because they use insulting language?
People like you--who don't even have the courage to put your real name--have said worse things to me in comments on this blog and other websites, things which go beyond defamation and enter the realm of threats of harm and stalking.
1. I have no idea who you think I am, but I've certainly never left you anything entering the realm of "threats of harm and stalking." You almost certainly have me confused with someone else. Virtually every other comment I've written on this site (something I do rather rarely), has been in disagreement but very polite.
2. Why does my name matter? Try engaging with the substance of what I've written.
3. "so what if he said that people should spit in khalaji's face?" It makes a difference because, in your blog entry, you attack his lawyers for asserting that fact (you claim that the lawyers have a "bit of a struggle with the english language" for asserting that point.) Well, it turns out that the lawyers aren't actually incorrect in pointing that out. Hoder actually wrote that. So, your claim that the lawyers were wrong actually illustrates that you didn't even bother to read the basic facts before writing your entry.
4. I never asserted that sites that insult public figures (or even, stupidly, encourage people to spit in others' faces) should be shut down. What I asserted that people shouldn't violate defamation laws, which any fair-minded reader would realize that Hoder has done (not in the garbage he wrote about spitting at people, but in some of his false assertions about Khalaji, among others.)
One further note: the fact that Hoder writes most of his truly outrageous stuff in Persian has actually helped him advance his career.
In his Persian-language blog, he regularly shits all over political prisoners, labor unionists, students, women's activists. These are things he doesn't write widely about in his blog, because he realizes that his appearances on t.v. shows, his interviews with radio stations, his invitations to conferences depend upon organizers not knowing what a reactionary fuckwit he is!
He's made a career out of pretending he's left-wing when, in truth, he's one of the most reactionary people out there.
Oh my god, i see why you flipped out. I was not saying that hoder never said the thing about spitting, dude. I was MAKING FUN of the lawyers for spelling "spitting" with one "t". They spelled it "spiting" which has a different root and means something different, get it? That is why i said they struggle with the english language. It's a joke. I even conveniently linked to the dictionary for you.
So you see, you were the one who was wrong and falsely accused me of not having read the case or hoder's posts.
By the way, speaking out against bullies who try to silence their critics does not mean that I agree with hoder's views. I agree with some of them, but i've had many disagreements and critiques of him as well. The issues are separate.
I don’t agree with your last point. Too many of these people are academicians like yourself. How come you don't gent involved with such organizations? They’re educated and very intelligent people. So they know exactly what they’re getting involved with.
The way I see the problem is the fact that Iranian government does not give these people the platform to express their beliefs within Iran. There are so many Iranian universities which could be a podium for these people to express their opinion within a more democratic Iran; instead of getting them involved with such anti-Iran organizations.
Hi Mohammad- I see what you are saying and I agree. If these people had a platform in Iran to begin with, then they wouldn't need to seek alternatives elsewhere. But i really think that many people don't know how bad some of these organizations are. There are also people who suffer from "my enemy's enemy is my friend" syndrome, which as you know is pretty rampant these days.
This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of, this is really an attack on all bloggers who don't agree with the neo cons. Hoder is the most popular blogger, if they can shut him down it's a warning to all other bloggers to watch what they say.
I was just at Hoder's temporary Blogger blog and read this news there. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to dig into the minutia of the case. Niki, can you tell me if his blog hosting company that terminated his blog is in the U.S, Canada, or someplace else? If people like Rush Limbaugh can get away with their incredibly defamatory public statements, its hard for me to believe that anything Hoder wrote could result in his blog being terminated. I guess that I am suffering from a serious case of confusion!
Hi david-
the hosting company is US based, and apparently they didn't even bother trying to independently assess what Hoder had written (i.e. they didn't try to get it transalted so that they could figure our if it was defamation). They just warned him to take it off.
But your point about limbaugh is my point exactly. People from the left and right are constantly savaging elected figures and public officials on public airways and private blogs, so the fact that this hosting company just gave in to the bullying because of one letter on some random lawyer's letterhead is very disturbing to me.
There may be more to the story, but this is what i know.
Niki,
I know Hossein for almost 10 years (we used to work for the same company in Iran, and I'd interviewed him a couple of times when I was in London)and I know how childish and stubborn he can be, and I don't like some of his views; but it's unbearable for me to see that we fall victims of censorship boith in our country of origin and here in the West.
I think we should get organized and fight back that US ISP to restore his site and apologise for what they have done. Any ideas?
Hi Saeed
Have you seen Nema's post on this issue? You can find it here
http://www.iraniantruth.com/?p=971
I think Nema will be able to help in figuring out a way to deal with the hosting service since he seems to know about the law.
I think the whole thing is really terrible, and i hope that people will stand up for hossein's freedom of speech even if they can't stand what hossein has to say
It is interesting that everyone is saying Hossein has a freedom of speech but how about being responsible. Having freedom to write is one thing but to be responsible is something else. You cann't just go around and accuse people. Hossein has called every one a name from Shirin Ebadi to Ganji to anothers, if he has evidence, he should publish those facts. Too many accusations are going aroud in our community. As far as public officials, Khalaji is not a public officials. But public officials are a defense to defamation. It said, " in general, false and defamation statements that are made about public figures and published in the press are privilaged IF they are made without acutal malice."
I suggest reading this correspondence:
http://hodertemp.blogspot.com/20...ng-
matters.html
The point is very clear: Hossein Derakhshan has freedom of speach, but Hosting Matters, Inc is under no obligation to host or publish whatever he wants to say: they are a private company.
Hosting Matters, Inc did not want to be involved in some ridiculous dispute. Why should they?
Reading the emails between Hossein and Annette from Hosting Matters, Inc just makes me embarrassed for Hossein.
This is just a bunch of bs. All those crying about censorship (AHEM..ASS AD) of the poooor pooor anti-"neo cons" should check out DailyKos and Huffpo.
Am I to assume that the defamation suits against right wingers is acceptable, from your oooh so enchanted point of view?
Let the conspiracy theories go dude. Marriage is tough enough, let alone thinking uncle sam is secretly putting mickeys in your kool aid.
Jim- First of all, respect others who leave comments here. Not everyone in the world is named jim or joe or bob, and i'm sure there are many languages in which your name either means something vulgar or can be twisted to mean something vulgar. Calling Asad "Ass ad" is childish and rude and makes you look like a racist idiot.
Second, how do you know whether people who are pissed about this issue aren't as equally appalled by censorship that takes place elsewhere? How do you know if they are even readers of sites like daily kos or huffington?
anyway, cut out the name calling or your posts will be deleted.
First of all, lighten up sweety. I'm sure Asad isn't going to lose any sleep over it. It's just a blog, for pity's sake.
Secondly, I think you lost my point. Point is that similarly in DailyKos and Huffpo, lawsuits are abundant. I figure if you're a liberal and you go into the Drudge blog, you should expect some crap coming your way. Same for a conservative going into Huffpo.
I've come on here and have had people defame me, but honestly, I couldn't care less.
Bottom line.....both sides need to toughen up and take it....big fricken deal.
Jimboner (see asad..no biggie)
Thanks Niki for blogging on this. I've been so depressed to see the pathetic response of the Iranian web to this issue. I don't particularly love or hate Hoder but I'd support his right to say what he wants no matter who it offends to my death. The fact that the person who is trying to shut him down is an employee of the vile Israel lobby front group, the Washington Institute, only makes the situation more depressing. Those who think that impoliteness is a grounds for legal action should go and get a job for the Iranian judiciary -- that's exactly the excuse they use to shut down many newspapers. Those who claim to support free speech should stand up and be counted when something like this happens.
Niki did you notice Hoder is back, he's switched to a French hosting service provider and as far as I can see the whole lawsuit has gone away. If Mehdi felt that strongly that he was defamed you think he would follow up with his lawsuit.
Hi Asad- Yeah i saw that and i think khalaji may still follow up, maybe he has just been too busy with his intensification of the war drive on iran to give much attention to it these days!
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