Defamation ruling could affect Net publications worldwide

SYDNEY, Australia -- In a landmark case, Australia's highest court on Tuesday gave a businessman the right to sue for defamation in Australia over an article published in the United States and posted on the Internet.

Analysts believe the ruling against international news service Dow Jones & Co. -- believed to be the first by a nation's final court of appeal to deal with Internet defamation -- could set a precedent for courts around the world and affect publishers and Web sites that post articles in the 190 nations that allow defamation cases.

"It's a judgment that will be looked at very closely by people in this area including the media right around the world," said Dr. Matthew Collins, a Melbourne lawyer and academic who has published a book on defamation and the Internet.

"What it means is that foreign publishers writing material about persons in Australia had better have regards to the standards of Australian law before they upload material to the Internet," he said.

The High Court of Australia unanimously dismissed an appeal by Dow Jones & Co. aimed at stopping a defamation suit in Australia by mining magnate Joseph Gutnick.

Gutnick claimed that a 7,000-word article that had appeared in Barron's in October 2000 portrayed him as a schemer given to stock scams, money laundering and fraud. The article was also published online.

The decision means Gutnick can sue New York-based Dow Jones & Co. in his home state of Victoria, in Australia.

Dow Jones & Co., which publishes The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, Dow Jones Newswires and several stock market indicators, said it was disappointed with the ruling and promised to continue its defense.

"The result means that Dow Jones will defend those proceedings in a jurisdiction which is far removed from the country in which the article was prepared and where the vast bulk of Barron's readership resides," it said in a statement.