Since we seem to be on the topic of law suits, lets move across the pond to a law suit that is being filed against Twitter for exposing the name of Ryan Giggs despite a super-injunction granted by the British government. Who is Ryan Giggs, what is a super-injunction, and what happened? Well, Ryan Giggs is a soccer star in Britain who had an extra-marital affair with a reality TV star from Big Brother. After the affair, he filed for a super-injunction which basically prevents his name, picture, or anything about him and the event from being printed in the media. This is supposedly to protect his privacy and keep his affair out of the public eye. What happened was that an anonymous user or two tweeted Ryan Giggs' name on Twitter, spawning an avalanche of tweets and re-tweets further exposing his name. The British government is now saying that Twitter broke British law and is suing to have the identity's revealed of the users who first used Ryan Giggs' name and exposed the whole incident. At this point, despite the fact that almost everyone who wants to know, knows who Ryan Giggs is and what happened, the media in Britain is still forbidden from uttering his name or using his picture. This seems a little absurd to me. Recently, there has been some controversy over the whole super-injunction issue itself because it can be used to cover up almost anything ranging from politicians hiring prostitutes to devious business dealings. The big problem that the British government is facing in attempting to sue Twitter is that first off, it is an American company which operates out of America and follows all American laws and second, it is not technically a news agency although the line gets blurry on that second note. Two articles that seem to cover the incident pretty well are linked here: Article 1 and Article 2.
I personally think that super injunctions are a load of crap. If someone becomes a celebrity or a politician, they should be willing to accept the publicity that comes along with it. Likewise, they should be extra careful about how they act knowing that the public eye is scrutinizing them and looking for a slip up of any kind. For this Ryan Giggs, why shouldn't his affair be made public? He screwed up, was un-faithful, and has a following of fans who look at his every move. Shame on him for having the affair in the first place and then he wanted to cover it up? It looks a lot worse now that his name has been revealed and the British media is still not able to reveal his name or picture. This sort of cover up would never happen in the United States. If someone in the public eye who is fairly well known screws up, the public usually finds out about it pretty soon afterwards. The only way that things get covered up in this country is if those who are famous are extra careful to make sure word doesn't get out. After all, Arnold Schwarzenegger was able to cover up his affair and illegitimate child for ten years before the news came out about it. Those who have enough money and savvy can skirt the media and hide their misdeeds without the use of the government to help them cover it up. What ever happened to being honest and forthright with people? Oh, right, that went by the wayside years ago, my fault.
Twitter is now facing dealings with varying laws based upon the country that its services are used in. This is just one of the downsides of globalization and the ever expanding presence of the internet. While internet companies may abide by the laws of the country that they are based out of, they may not be abiding by the laws in another country. However, with the internet, those laws and their applicability to internet services gets fuzzy depending on what is occurring. Google has run into issues both in China and in Germany over different aspects of its services. These issues just go to show how countries need to work more closely with each other to define how internet services will be allowed to operate in their countries and even to re-adjust laws if necessary so that the services being provided can operate within them instead of potentially breaking them. The other option, as I see it, is for whatever country that is using the services that finds that it is breaking laws, to not use those services or not allow them to be used in their country. My option, obviously, would probably never happen, because as stated before, the proliferation of internet services across the globe has happened at an incredibly fast rate and is still increasing every day. To stop internet service in a given country would upset hundreds upon thousands of people who rely on it daily for a variety of purposes. For the most part, almost all sites operate within the given laws of most countries and no real issues arise. This latest issue out of Britain, in my mind, is a stupid issue.
Both the super-injunction itself and the British lawsuit are pointless, outdated, and stupid. Granted, I am looking at it from an American perspective, but I feel, as I have said before, that if you put yourself in the public eye, for whatever reason, then you should expect to be followed and reported on by the media more closely than others. The easiest way to get rid of an issue is to admit to it from the get go and be totally honest about it. Wouldn't it have been much easier if Ryan Giggs came out when the affair first happened and said, "Listen, I screwed up, I had an affair, I am sorry, and now I am trying to work things out with my wife." The issue would not have been as big as it is today and there wouldn't be lawsuits flying around or super-injunctions being issued. In any case, none of this would have happened to begin with if Ryan had simply remained faithful to his wife, something that it seems is incredibly hard for men to do these days. Many men see a gorgeous woman walking down the street and immediately must have that women for themselves, regardless if they are in a relationship or not. What ever happened to self-restraint and adhering to vows and promises that one makes. That has obviously also gone by the wayside along with honesty. Today, take a look at your own life and see if you are being honest with those around you. Honesty goes a long way and is a much better policy than deceit.
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