Gag order. Bollocks?

I just found out today that England, as regulated by the European Union (groan), now provides court ordered gags on releasing salacious information. For example, a footie player has been playing away from his wife and sneaking in a former reality star for pre-games trysts. The papers cannot publish his name, print photos or so anything that would come remotely close to identifying him...because he took out a court order preventing this from becoming public knowledge. What a load of bollocks lol. The papers have been trying to circumvent this to a degree by taking photos of this lass arriving at and leaving his hotel. Problem is, this is causing undue stress on "speculated" parties...and people are being randomly accused of being the bad guy.
Gabby Logan (a sports presenter) has found herself in this position and has now hired a lawyer to prove that she ISN'T the one being talked about in another case. What a fooking mess. The European Union laws are a clusterfuck beyond all others....
What do you think?

C
Oh don't ya just love the EU...., I agree it's Bollocks, but then again there are sooo many more ridiculous laws...But even with all that madness, my heart still belongs to London

I'm going back in 3 weeks and can't wait! x
Hey Val....oh England is still my first love too
I'm envious you are going back soon....they've been having some cracking weather recently haven't they????
English law was fine...but this European Union bollocks is stupid.

Just realized, you will have missed all the chaos surrounding Will and Kates wedding by the time you get back. Aren't you sad you'll miss it lol You can always buy a souvenir tea towel lol

Safe travels!!

C xx
John Bull's Avatar
Our jug-eared president thinks the EU is the absolute top. Look for that kind of stuff to become more prevalent here if he gets his way.

BTW - I thought a footie was something women put on their feet while trying on shoes. Is there another meaning?
atlcomedy's Avatar
What's the actual statute? Does your solicitor (I believe that is was you call them) go to court to proactively bar something? The issue I see is in our internet/TMZ/Twitter world dirty secrets would be outted well before any court could stop them & then once the cat's out of the bag all one could due is sue for damages.

I'm not sure how different that is vs. in the USA. All kinds of stuff gets a gag order. Most/many civil lawsuits have a confidentiality/non-disclosure clause barring the parties from discussing anything relative to the issue.

And JB a (assuming you weren't being sarcastic) a footie is slang for a football player...well the kind of football the rest of the world loves but never seems to catch on in the US.
John Bull's Avatar
Who me be sarcastic? No, never!
Hey Val....oh England is still my first love too
I'm envious you are going back soon....they've been having some cracking weather recently haven't they????
English law was fine...but this European Union bollocks is stupid.

Just realized, you will have missed all the chaos surrounding Will and Kates wedding by the time you get back. Aren't you sad you'll miss it lol You can always buy a souvenir tea towel lol

Safe travels!!

C xx Originally Posted by Camille
Yes the weather has been mad! But I remember last year in late July/August it was scorching! I couldn't even do incalls at my flat, had to book a hotel for 3 weeks so I could have some aircon!

And I am sooooo glad I am not going to be there for all the wedding madness, I've had so many people here ask if I was going blah blah blah, and I try and explain to them that most British people DO NOT GIVE A SHIT...lmao x

BTW - I thought a footie was something women put on their feet while trying on shoes. Originally Posted by John Bull
awl4knot's Avatar
Ladies, thanks for the chat about the state of the Empire, but this gag order stuff is not confined to "footies" and the EU. TMZ reports that roundballer Dwight Howard obtained an injunction against his baby momma barring her from talking about their relationshipship, and the got a $500K judgment when she violated it.

I can guess why the situations are different but aren't the results similar.
Ladies, thanks for the chat about the state of the Empire, but this gag order stuff is not confined to "footies" and the EU. TMZ reports that roundballer Dwight Howard obtained an injunction against his baby momma barring her from talking about their relationshipship, and the got a $500K judgment when she violated it.

I can guess why the situations are different but aren't the results similar. Originally Posted by awl4knot
You are misunderstanding me.
I'm not talking about gag orders against a person...I'm talking about with regards the press. The press discovered that this footie player had been playing away (pun intended) and have been prevented from naming him publicly. Non-disclosures between two people are old news...agreed...but the press? WTF. Typically, before going to print, the tabloids in the Uk will ask the person involved for a "comment" and that is what is triggering the emergency injunction allowing the solicitor to get it before it goes to press. It's a sham IMO.

Val, I too am getting fed up now of being asked if I'll be watching the wedding. I bet it rains on Friday..just watch
atlcomedy's Avatar
You are misunderstanding me.
I'm not talking about gag orders against a person...I'm talking about with regards the press. The press discovered that this footie player had been playing away (pun intended) and have been prevented from naming him publicly. Non-disclosures between two people are old news...agreed...but the press? WTF. Typically, before going to print, the tabloids in the Uk will ask the person involved for a "comment" and that is what is triggering the emergency injunction allowing the solicitor to get it before it goes to press. It's a sham IMO.

Val, I too am getting fed up now of being asked if I'll be watching the wedding. I bet it rains on Friday..just watch Originally Posted by Camille

That is just my point....if you know about it, with all due respect, so do a whole heck of a lot of people.

At this point the cat is out of the bag....

And, oh if I was reporter that lives and works in the US but happens to learn about it via eccie.net I'd love to see how they could successfully silence me much less collect judgement against me. Plus if I'm a journalist odds are I'm broke and have no assets to collect.
I know about the issue because it's been reported...so I'm not sure what you are getting at with that comment??

As for US jurisdiction this only applies to the European Union as I said.
People generally know when Tabloids are on the case, at least in England, because the tab staff are not shy, quiet or retiring. They like to let you know they are there...
atlcomedy's Avatar
I know about the issue because it's been reported...so I'm not sure what you are getting at with that comment??

As for US jurisdiction this only applies to the European Union as I said.
People generally know when Tabloids are on the case, at least in England, because the tab staff are not shy, quiet or retiring. They like to let you know they are there... Originally Posted by Camille
I think we are in agreement & just talking across each other

BTW a 10 second Bing (Yes I'm spreading my free search business around these days....) search & you can get all the details.
Cpalmson's Avatar
It is not the EU. It is actually English/British law and was in place long before the EU came into existence. In England, their laws with regard to slander and libel are much more conservative in order to protect the individual from slander. In the U.S. we have this pesky little thing called the First Amendment that essentially allows anyone to say anything about someone else. In the U.S., the burden of proof to show malicious slander is so high that it is very difficult to prove. Basically, if you are public person (i.e. celebrity, sports star, elected official), it is open season for the media.

Val, I too am getting fed up now of being asked if I'll be watching the wedding. I bet it rains on Friday..just watch Originally Posted by Camille
Haha! That would be classic! x
Sisyphus's Avatar
Break out the old Joe Jackson!!

"You can read it in the Sunday Papers...the Sunday papers. Read all about it in the Sunday papers..."

Ooops....guess you can't. Not any more...