Dow Jones v Gutnick: the Internet honeymoon is over. What's next?

But so what? It is a fundamental illusion of our times that we can live a life without danger, and compared to the risks that publishers and writers used to face in the past, the risks we take today are comfortable.

What is to be done? The Internet is a wonderful invention. It lowers the barriers of entry so that anyone, even a middle-aged ex-political apparatchik with a laptop in a two-bedroom unit in Coorparoo, can assemble and publish a significant source of alternative opinion. It functions as a beacon, making the light of the freedoms that we enjoy shine even more brightly than it has ever before. In some ways it is the most potent weapon we have in the war against terrorism, bringing knowledge, information, wisdom and analysis where before there was very little.

So, I think that now is the time to start negotiating an international treaty on the Internet - whether under UN auspices or not probably doesn't matter. It should probably fairly closely follow the US laws, or the implied right of free speech propounded by the High Court in Theophanous, and it should be limited to politics.

The crux of any treaty should be that it gives immunity from prosecution to anyone who publishes in accordance with its guidelines. The strength of it should be that it designates the courts where the publisher and writer live as having the right to adjudicate. This may be inconvenient for some dissidents, but it will mean that, unlike most UN or international treaties, there will be a defined and workable system for enforcing the treaty. It also makes it more likely to win the signatures it needs to be effective as it would not involves a loss of domestic sovereignty.

Of course, such a treaty couldn't deal with all the issues that publishers have to face. Nor should it. There will still be issues like local laws on contempt of court, product regulations, tortious liability for negligence etc. that publishers will have to deal with, case by case. Weigh that up against the massive savings that Internet publishing has made - no printing presses, warehouses, delivery vans, returns, receptionists etc - and it seems like a small price to pay.