The Times was slightly more explicit in its Law Reports for 
20/04/1999:

http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/tim/99/04/20/timlawqbd01002.html?999

Miles

On Mon, 28 Jun 1999 14:05:19 +0100 (BST) K Fearon 
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Noticed this in 'Commercial Law Briefing' and thought it may be of
> interest, as I hadn't heard anything about it: 
> 
> 'In the first English ruling on Internet libel, the High Court has held an
> Internet service provider liable for libellous material which it carried
> on its systems. In 'Laurence Godfrey v Demon Internet Ltd, 29 March 1999'
> a university lecturer claimed that defamatory remarks were held on an
> Internet newsgroup run by Demon and that Demon did not remove the
> information upon request. The Court held that Demon could not rely on the
> defence at common law that it had not published the defamatory statement
> nor on a defence available under the Defamation Act 1996 because, whilst
> it was not the author, editor or publisher of the statement, it had not
> taken reasonable care in relation to the publication when it was notified
> of its defamatory nature. Demon has been granted leave to appeal the
> decision.'
> 
> It didn't say exactly what action Demon had taken so it's hard to judge
> whether how far this could apply to an institution - but they do have an
> AUP and guidelines for use like any reputable organisation.
> 
> Comments?
> 
> Kriss
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Web Coordinator         Stables S011     Tel: (01904) 434682 Fax: 433538
> University of York, UK  9-5.15, Mon-Fri  http://www.york.ac.uk/coord/
> 

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Miles E.C. Banbery, University Web Editor
Communications & Development Office and Education Support Services
G1, The Registry, The University, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7NF.
Tel. 01227 827767, Fax. 01227 764464



%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%