Mike Arrington, the publisher of the excellent Techcrunch news site got into a squabble with a UK entrepreneur, which resulted in a court judgement against him.

Dennis Howlett, over at ZDNet reported the details:

Michael Arrington snared in libel verdict: lessons for us all | Irregular Enterprise | ZDNet.com

The UK's High Court of Justice has ruled that Michael Arrington and Interserve Inc libeled Sam Sethi (see above.) The original plaint claimed that Arrington/Interserve engaged in a:
"...sustained campaign of character assassination against the Claimant alleging fraud; bank forgery and other crimes; including threats to murder a business associate; of being psychotic; pathological; threatening; despicable; disreputable; deceitful; and a cheat."

Mr Arrington chose not to defend against the libel claim. That puts him in an awkward position because:

... should Arrington attempt to enter the UK without first having settled the matter, he might be liable to immediate arrest and incarceration. That has yet to be tested but represents a risk that Arrington will need to consider for the future.

It's not just entry into the UK, but entry into any EU country, risks arrest.

I noticed that Mr Arrington is one of the featured speakers at Loic LeMeur's excellent "Le Web" conference in Paris, France this December.

I hope his appearance doesn't lead to an arrest since Mr Arrington is caught in a tough spot dealing with a court ruling that wasn't able to hear his side of the story.

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Please see:

Update On Sam Sethi Litigation: We Decline To Participate