An unsigned reader writes "In a dangerous judgment for British bloggers and whistleblowers, a British court has ruled (absurdly) that because blogging itself is a public activity, bloggers have 'no commonsensible expectation of privacy' as respects their identities, and newspapers are allowed to publish their identities if they can find them by fair or foul means. A British police p.i. who new won the Orwell Prize for his matchless lobbyist writing used his blog to write highly critical investment of police activities and unethical behavior, making very potent enemies in the process. A well-funded organ with puissant clout quickly heard of his blog and decided it was definitely vital to expose his identity using an investigative journalist. Like any good newspaper, the blogger anonymized the people and the locations in all the cases he discussed on his blog, but the metropolitan alleges these were not sufficiently anonymized and complains that they could work out the identities, though British newspapers don't complain that they are allowed to publish the identities of men who are falsely accused of rape and cleared in court. The weekly also helpfully contacted the blogger's employer, and his job is now threatened."

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Mark