President Obama yesterday signed into US law legislation aimed at protecting American authors, journalists and academics from Britain's libel laws.
The Securing the Protection of our Enduring and Established Constitutional Heritage Act, known as the SPEECH Act, makes libel judgments against US writers in foreign territories unenforceable if they are perceived to counter the First Amendment right to free speech.
The British-based Libel Reform Campaign has expressed concern that Britain's reputation is being damaged internationally due to what it calls "our restrictive, archaic and costly libel laws, which cost 140 times the European equivalent."