In a closely watched case, a Taiwanese court today dismissed an industrial conglomerate’s defamation suit against an academic whose research suggested that elevated cancer rates in central Taiwan were caused by emissions from the conglomerate’s chemical plants. Despite the favorable ruling, “the case has already had a chilling effect on Taiwan’s academic community,” claims Severia Lu, an attorney at the Taipei-based Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association, who with others represented the defendant. [1]