02/08/2008

Cease and desist

Dave Walker, of cartoon church and Church Times fame, had been following the sad and sorry story of the aftermath of the takeover of SPCK by the St Stephen the Great charity - see, for example, SPCKwatch.

As a consequence he was served with a 'cease and desist' order - a gagging order - by Mark Brewer of SSG, who then insted he also remove any reference to the fact he'd been told to cease and desist.

Other people took up the story, reposting Dave Walker's posts and ignoring Mark Brewer's threats.  Sam Norton, for example, from Mersea posted the whole cease and desist notice and his correspondence with Mark Brewer. The Wardman wire is keeping a list of Dave Walker's active supporters (58 to date).

It costs Mr Brewer little or nothing to send out these orders. Whether they stand up in law or not is irrelevant. They are, in effect, attempts to close down discussion by the threat of legal action and consequent bankruptcy.

Makes you think.

2 comments:

  1. This is a similar story to the recent Ruth Gledhill of the Times forcing the Modern Churchpeople's Union 'Only Connect' website to desist from posting - fortunately no murders yet.

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  2. Anonymous2/8/08

    Interestingly I left a comment on Ruth Gledhill's Articles of Faith blog site early this afternoon suggesting people might be interested in the debate about her reporting taking place on the Modern Churchpeople's Union 'Only Connect' website. As yet it hasn't appeared. Perhaps it is been moderated/censored at her directive? Time will tell.

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