It's an indispensable communication tool but the internet has also become a forum for personal attacks, invasions of privacy and defamation.
Queensland University of Technology law lecturer Peter Black said that while the internet gave unparalleled opportunities for free speech, striking a balance between that and protecting reputation and privacy was an ongoing problem for the law.
"The recent case of Australian community website Whirlpool being sued by 2Clix for anonymous comments posted on their discussion board illustrates the need to consider the position of the law in this situation," Mr Black said.
"Although 2Clix will struggle to make their case against Whirlpool, the reality is owners of blogs and sites which allow anonymous comment could be liable for comments posted to their site.
"Not surprisingly, many internet users, particularly bloggers, are uncertain about how defamation and other laws apply to them.
"In this respect, Australia lags behind US law where it is clear that bloggers (as information service providers) will be immune from liability where defamatory comments are made by visitors to a blog."
A blogger himself, Mr Black is the convenor of Australia's first user-generated conference on the legal, business, political and aspects of blogs to be held at QUT's Kelvin Grove campus on Friday September 28.
At the free one-day conference, Navigating the Blogosphere, Mr Black will speak about the legal issues facing the blogosphere, from defamation to copyright to invasion of privacy.
Speakers' topics will include defamation in blogs, borrowing from blogs, business and corporate blogging, blogging and education, and how to building a better blog as well as some blog forecasting.
The free conference is held on Friday, September 28 at The Hall, in the Creative Industries Precinct of QUT's Kelvin Grove campus.
For information contact: Peter Black on 3138 2734 or p2.black@qut.edu.au or visit http://www.freedomtodiffer.com/blogoz/
Media contact: Niki Widdowson, QUT media officer, 07 3138 1841 or n.widdowson@qut.edu.au.
