Letters From A Tory Daily views on British politics and the Conservative Party from a centre-right thinker who writes letters on his blog to politicians, journalists and many others.

Welcome to ‘Letters From A Tory’, covering British politics from a conservative perspective. Please leave a comment if you have any thoughts about today’s letter, and don’t forget that you can CLICK HERE to get my letters sent to you by RSS every morning.Dear Darryn Walker,
Although it didn’t cause much of a ripple in [...]

“There’s no way they’re ever going to get that”
- Jammie Thomas-Rasset, a 32-year-old mother of two, who has been found guilty of wilful copyright infringement and must pay $1.92m after a retrial in a US court, making her the first person to be successfully sued for illegal filesharing in the US. A court awarded the Recording [...]

Dear Nightjack,
Your quest to protect your identity is at an end, sadly.  Despite your best efforts, Mr Justice Eady refused to protect your anonymity and you now have your name splashed across the papers this morning.  Needless to say there is some concern about the implications of this case for other anonymous bloggers in the UK, but [...]

“construct a green, healthy and harmonious internet environment, and prevent harmful information on the internet from influencing and poisoning young people”
- a notice from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, issued to personal computer-makers instructing them that every machine sold from July 1st must be preloaded with software aimed at restricting online pornography but which could also [...]

“We want them to register their activity as a business – it’s still taxable, even if it’s a hobby.”
- Dag Hardyson, a tax official in Sweden, discussing the authorities’ decision to examine websites that feature Swedish strippers in an effort to identify them and make them pay tax on their earnings.  The lost tax revenue is [...]

Without doubt my favourite image from Google Street View submitted to the BBC in their feature on bizarre images caught by the new service.  That said, Google has apparently been hit by a “wave of privacy complaints” after Street View was launched.  They said yesterday that it had removed scores of photographs from the site, including [...]

Dear Matt Lewis,
Waking up on a Saturday morning is difficult enough for most people, but for you waking up today must be a pretty horrible experience.  Almost every paper has run with the story about your questionable decision to dress up as a dead Madeleine McCann at a fancy dress party, with the Daily Mail [...]

Dear readers,
There have been a number of stories recently about the legal aspects of blogging, and leaving comments in particular.  Here is ANOTHER STORY that suggests the balance of power is shifting away from anonymity and towards liability.  Sarcasm, it seems, is not a sufficient defence if you post a jokey remark which can be misconstrued.
A.Tory

Dear readers,
It was only a matter of time before the lawyers got their teeth into the blogosphere and even though it didn’t exactly grab the headlines today, it seems as though the mask of anonymity provided online is about to be taken away.  Have a read of the story, and leave your reactions in the [...]