...

"If this chap said he was going to sue, we would probably advise him to get a letter from his solicitor. If the solicitor wrote to us, then we would take it down. We've got our own lawyers, and they would always advise that if there was any doubt, we should take it down."

Demon was right on. In Britain, one must prove that one's statement was not libelous if one is challenged in court, which is really quite difficult, as proving a negative is very difficult. Thus, ISPs are forced to take the policy of "Anything in doubt must be censored (removed)." Certainly the ISPs (who are probably annoyed at this as much as we are) are not playing games, as the Gagging the Internet in Three Easy Steps article shows.

Demon had previously said the case would affect the entire ethos of free speech on the internet.

Laurence Godfrey will be paid £15,000 plus legal costs - which could top £200,000 - by Demon Internet after allegedly defamatory postings about him appeared in newsgroups.

As a result, he thinks the ISP business in Ireland is about to explode.

Go to Ireland. It's the country which seems to have done most to protect ISPs against serial litigation, and also to avoid the ridiculous restrictions on encryption and extension of investigatory powers that is set to become law in the UK. It also offers tax breaks to high-tech industries.