Wired has this very interesting piece on a recent judgement in a US circuit court on what constitutes being a public figure on the internet. According to US law, being a public figure severly limits the ability of one to fight against defamation or libel. The lady in question had participated in online discussions, and since there was negligible MSM coverage of her case, the judge deemed her online presence enough to categorize her a public figure…..Compare and contrast this development with the hugely debated Kansas School Board’s decision to teach students that “intelligent design” , something that matches more than a bit with what a few religious scriptures say, is a viable alternative theory to evolution !!! While I couldn’t be less concerned about either of these developments, what i found interesting was the role of media in these..In the first case, discussion forums were taken as proof for a person’s popularity and in the second, I see it nothing more but a desperate attempt by a bunch of retired people to hit international press with their gyaan !!! Phew….who doesn’t want to be {un}popular !! And yea, there’s a nice article here that traces the IP aspect of the whole issue…