Welcome to the fourth issue of the Citizen Media Law Brief, a weekly newsletter highlighting recent blog posts, media law news, and other new content on the Citizen Media Law Project's website. You are receiving this email because you have expressed interest in the CMLP or registered on our site, www.citmedialaw.org. If you do not wish to receive this newsletter, you can unsubscribe by following the link at the bottom of this email or by going to http://www.citmedialaw.org/newsletter/subscriptions.

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The latest from the Citizen Media Law Project...

Sam Bayard reports on a huge jury verdict against a Kansas church.
Jury Awards $10.9 Million Against "God Hates Fags" Church

David Ardia highlights the recently released "Fair Use Principles" for online video.
Report Recommends Fair Use Principles for User Generated Video Content

Sam Bayard reports on a suit against a trailblazing Iranian blogger.
Iranian Blogger Hossein Derakshan Sued for Defamation in Canada

David Ardia points to blocked news sites abroad.
Opposition News Sites Blocked in Kazakhstan

Sam Bayard comments on a victory for bloggers in federal court.
Summary Judgment Granted in BidZirk v. Smith

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Other citizen media law news...

Fox News faces wrath from right and left over debate footage stance
Ars Technica - Thur. 11/1/2007

Facebook boots pseudonymous blogger, then caves to blogosphere pressure
Wired - Thur. 11/1/2007

Online marketers joining Internet privacy efforts
New York Times - Wed. 10/31/2007

United Arab Emirates - Libel suit withdrawn against website editor but journalist still subject to jail sentence
Reporters Without Borders - Tues. 10/30/2007

Virtual vendors in Second Life file real-world lawsuit in NYC
ABC News - Mon. 10/29/2007

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The full Brief...

"On Wednesday, a federal jury in Maryland handed down a $10.9 million verdict against the Westboro Baptist Church, a fundamentalist Christian church in Kansas that publishes a website at www.godhatesfags.com, on which it disseminates its rabidly anti-homosexual views. Among other things, the church advocates the view that God kills U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan as punishment for America's tolerance of homosexuality and for the presence of gays in the U.S. military. Westboro Baptist has gained notoriety in recent years for staging protests at the funerals of U.S. soldiers in order to draw attention to its message."
Sam Bayard, Jury Awards $10.9 Million Against "God Hates Fags" Church

"Yesterday, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and a group of public interest groups dedicated to protecting free speech, including the Center for Social Media at American University and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, published a report entitled 'Fair Use Principles for User Generated Video Content' that sets out six guidelines designed to minimize the collateral damage that copyright enforcement efforts may inflict on video creators who remix copyrighted material."
David Ardia, Report Recommends Fair Use Principles for User Generated Video Content

"Hossein Derakshan, an Iranian-born blogger based in Toronto, reported yesterday that he had been sued for defamation in a Canadian court. Derakshan is a prominent figure in the history of the Iranian blogosphere. In 2001, he developed the technological solution that enabled Iranian bloggers to blog in Persian and published a widely-used set of instructions on "How to make a blog in Persian" using Blogger.com's free service."
Sam Bayard, Iranian Blogger Hossein Derakshan Sued for Defamation in Canada

"The OpenNet Initiative is reporting that four opposition news sites in Kazakhstan have been recently blocked, including www.kub.kz, www.zonakz.net, www.geo.kz, and www.inkar.info. The oil-rich Central Asian country has been facing increasing criticism for cracking down on independent and opposition media."
David Ardia, Opposition News Sites Blocked in Kazakhstan

"I blogged about Orthomom's victory on Friday. Here's another big win for a blogger recently. Last Monday, the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina granted summary judgment to Philip Smith in the lawsuit brought against him by BidZirk, LLC, Daniel Schmidt, and Jill Patterson. The decision contains a handful of rulings that could be helpful to bloggers faced with lawsuits in the future."
Sam Bayard, Summary Judgment Granted in BidZirk v. Smith