Setback

Unfortunately, the Senate Armed Services Committee declined to consider the Free Speech Protection Act as an amendment to the defense authorization bill. The reason they did so is unclear; the proposed legislation was bipartisan and had support from more than 20 organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union. It is also unclear if there will be any other attempts to pass the bill during what is left of this Congressional session.

On a brighter note, the British PEN organization is gathering information on other cases in which publishers were intimidated or constrained by the prospect of 'libel tourism.' (The American PEN was one of the bill's supporters.) If the British amend their law to stop 'libel tourism' that would certainly help.