Trimble Takes his Suit vs Amazon.com across the sea Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit ............................................................... source - Newseire@aol.com Amazon Riles N. Ireland Leader by Polly Sprenger 9:45a.m.14.Jun.99.PDT The leader of Northern Ireland's parliament is threatening Amazon UK with a defamation lawsuit for selling a book that he said contains false accusations against him. David Trimble, Northern Ireland's first minister, is asking Amazon to discontinue sales of The Committee: Political Assassination in Northern Ireland in Great Britain. Published in May 1998, the book tells the story of alleged atrocities committed against Catholics by Protestant police forces in Northern Ireland. Trimble, head of the Ulster Unionist Party, is implicated in the book. "A man who just won a Nobel peace prize is being accused of the murder of innocent Catholics," said Jason McCune, Trimble's solicitor. "I'm treating Amazon as though they were Barnes and Noble in Manhattan, stripping away all the Internet mystique [that] lawyers try to weave around it." Amazon could not be reached for comment. Sean McPhilemy, the book's author, first broadcast a television documentary describing the acts of a clandestine Protestant committee in 1991. The book details the seven years following that broadcast, including legal action taken against McPhilemy. Trimble claims that as sellers of the book in the United Kingdom, Amazon is liable for the defamation that he says is contained between the book's covers. McCune has given the online bookseller until 4 p.m. GMT Monday to remove the book from its catalog or face a suit. The Committee is currently the 79th most popular title in Amazon's catalog among British buyers. The book is not for sale in British book stores. Trimble attorney Jason McCune said that when the book was originally published, the cover read "Too hot to publish in the UK." In 1998, Trimble received the Nobel peace prize for his efforts to end fighting in Northern Ireland. McCune said that unless his "letter before action" is addressed by Amazon immediately, he will file suit Tuesday. "If you are going to have a business in a country, you have got to respect its laws," McCune said of Amazon. "The money they save in not having a physical presence they should invest in making sure they don't offend the laws of [this] country." This week's legal skirmish in the UK is the second for Amazon in as many months. In May, the company came under fire for removing a book critical of the Scientology movement, after church lawyers told the company that the book had been banned. Later, Amazon replaced the book after it became clear that only one paragraph had been proved defamatory, and that it was only illegal to sell in England and Wales. Subj:=09Another Amazon Title Gone Another Amazon Title Gone by Polly Sprenger 3:00=A0a.m.=A0=A016.Jun.99.PDT Amazon UK has stopped selling a book that accuses Northern Ireland's top political figure of heinous crimes after legal threats were made to the company's UK office earlier this week. Lawyers for David Trimble, Northern Ireland's first minister, told the courts last Friday that a 1998 book containing allegations against Trimble defamed his character, and requested that Amazon remove the book from the site. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ See also: Amazon Riles N. Ireland Leader ------------------------------------------------------------------------ But even after Amazon removed the book, attorneys for Trimble told reporters they might pursue a lawsuit to force Amazon to pay reparations and publicly apologize for carrying the book. Amazon UK legal counsel Michael Miller said the company responded to Trimble's charges in a letter to his solicitors Wednesday afternoon. "We've written back to them putting our case on the record," Miller said. "That letter has gone out to them this afternoon so essentially the ball is in their court." "We believe we're acting with integrity," said Simon Murdoch, president of Amazon UK. "We have 1.5 million titles on the UK site and 4 million on the US site. It really would be almost impossible to read every single book." The company made a statement on its Web site explaining the reasons for the removal. "We have been put on notice that this book contains defamatory allegations," the statement reads. "Our legal advisors have told us that although we have a legal right to sell this book, if we continue to do so, under current UK defamation laws, we could be compelled to defend in court defamatory allegations [if any] made in the book...." Published in May 1998, The Committee: Political Assassination in Northern Ireland tells the story of alleged atrocities committed against Catholics by Protestant police forces in Northern Ireland. Trimble, head of the Ulster Unionist Party, is implicated in the book. A representative of Roberts Rinehart Publishers, which published the book, said the company had not been contacted either by Trimble's lawyers or by Amazon UK. "It's one thing to sue us, the publisher, but now they're going after the Internet," said Shelley Laigh of Roberts Rinehart. Trimble's attorneys are telling the press at every opportunity they intend to make an example of Amazon and the e-commerce contingents it represents. "If you are going to have a business in a country, you have got to respect its laws," attorney Jason McCune told Wired News on Monday. "The money they save in not having a physical presence they should invest in making sure they don't offend the laws of [this] country." Sean McPhilemy, the book's author, first broadcast a television documentary describing the acts of a clandestine Protestant committee in 1991. The book details the seven years following that broadcast, including legal action taken against McPhilemy. It is the second book Amazon has recently removed from its site because of legal tangles in Britain. In May, the company came under fire for removing a book critical of the Scientology movement, after church lawyers told the company that the book had been banned. Later, Amazon replaced the book after it became clear that only one paragraph had been proved defamatory, and that sales were only illegal in England and Wales. ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytire-06.23.99-11:39:43-19707