THE LACK OF A DEFINITE INTERNET LAW

The previously explored advantages enjoyed by gossip blogs are largely due to the lack of a definite internet law. Bloggers are seldom charged with libel enabling them to post obscene material and scathing remarks that would not be permitted in traditional media outlets. Perez Hilton’s posting of a video of the accident in which late TLC rapper Left-Eye demised is an exemplary case. Bloggers hence currently benefit from the freedom of an uncensored medium (Flew, 2005: 207). Once legal conduct on the internet is defined, these advantages could be rendered obsolete.

For instance, bloggers are currently able to compete with traditional media outlets by providing images of glamorized Hollywood events and paparazzi shots; both key aspects in the drawing in of audiences and readers. A majority of such visuals are appropriated under the “fair dealings provisions” of the Copyright Act which allows the reproduction of material for non-commercial purposes (Flew, 2005: 211). While it can be argued that blogs sell the opinions of bloggers, the reappropriating of commodities of news and knowledge from traditional media outlets is an undeniably integral aspect of the popularity of blogs. Hyper linking, ease of access and publishing are obsolete advantages when gossip blogs lack the ability to publish leading entertainment headlines.

At the present moment, the platform of blogging has enabled gossip blogs to significantly challenge traditional entertainment media outlets. Perhaps, as blogging emerged from a celebrity-centric, cultural context, its established mechanisms were in alignment with the nihilistic tendencies of and scarcity of attention in society; hence the attractiveness of gossip blogs as an entertainment news medium. It should be noted, however, that these mechanisms currently prevail due the lack of a definitive internet law. With the “fair dealings provision” under review, the outcome will decide whether gossip blogs maintain their current advantages or are a passing trend.