Save The Whale

Fellow blogger and friend of the Motella blog, Whaleoil is in trouble.

The man behind one of New Zealand's most popular blogs, Cameron Slater has been accused of  breaching name suppression orders by allegedly identifying an entertainer and of a former Olympian who have been granted name suppression.

• Does picture association directly identify individuals with name suppression? Who knows?
  
• Are the current name suppression laws an ass? Probably.
  
• Has Slater provoked some needed debate about name suppression? Absolutely!

Slater has been charged with four counts of breaching name suppression orders two days before Christmas. Authorities seem to have pulled all stops to have these charges answered post-haste with a date set at the Auckland District Court on January 5.

Hardly seems to be enough time to formulate a legal defense? With low readership of blogs over the holiday season, the short time-frame given is not opportune to raise awareness and support. But we guess that is the point.

So how can you assist? Watch this space.