Majority favours voluntary code on blogging?

Nearly half of all internet users would support a voluntary code of conduct for bloggers and online commentators, according to research published in The Guardian recently. The paper noted that a survey by legal firm DLA Piper said 46% of web users think bloggers should sign up to a code that reflected the laws on defamation, intellectual property and incitement. 

There’s been a fair bit of discussion in the SL blogosphere on civility and blogging with at least one group blog (Moju) shut down on account of trolls. As participants at Fifth International Forum on Online Dispute Resolution – Liverpool, England April 19-20, 2007 we agreed to a Statement on Respectful Communication, one of the first voluntary codes of conduct written for bloggers after the infamous Kathy Sierra incident in 2007.

According to DLA Piper, although a code of practice would not change the law it might help to make bloggers and web users more aware of the legal implications of what they post on the net.