Welcome to the Citizen Media Law Brief, a weekly newsletter highlighting recent blog posts, media law news, legal threat entries, 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 addresses Gawker's rejection of a demand to remove a controversial video.
Gawker Defies Demand from Church of Scientology to Remove Creepy Tom Cruise Video

David Ardia comments on the end of state-issued ID cards for journalists in New Hampshire.
New Hampshire to Stop Issuing ID Cards to Journalists

David Ardia reports on a court's rejection of a republication argument for online defamation.
Court of Appeals Affirms that Single Publication Rule Applies to Internet

Dan Gillmor notes the need to defend unpopular speech.
Ban 'Hate Speech' at Your Own Peril

Sam Bayard looks at the killing of a citizen journalist in China.
Chinese Citizen Journalist Beaten to Death by City Officials

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Other citizen media law news...

Niger: French Journalists Face Possible Death Sentence
New York Times - Thurs. 1/17/08

Pakistan: Government urged to clarify new law on cyber-crime
Reporters Without Borders - Wed. 1/16/08

Hasbro Using DMCA on Facebook Game Apps
Slashdot - Wed. 1/16/08

New e-book may 'kindle' fires of regulation - or of freedom
First Amendment Center - Tues. 1/15/08

MySpace to Let Parents Block Their Children from Joining
New York Times - Mon. 1/14/08

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Recent threats added to the CMLP database...

West Lafayette High School v. Casseday
Posted January 18th, 2008

Michael Crook v. BoingBoing
Posted January 18th, 2008

Explorologist v. Sapient
Posted January 17th, 2008

Nationwide v. Belo Corp.
Posted January 16th, 2008

Freecycle Network v. Oey
Posted January 15th, 2008

(If you've been threatened with legal action or know of someone who has, please let us know by entering the information into the database through our easy to use threat entry form or by using our contact form.)

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The full(er) Brief...

"Earlier this week, a promotional/inspirational video for the Church of Scientology featuring Tom Cruise began circulating online. The video is bizarre -- against the background of what sounds like the Mission Impossible theme, Cruise extols the virtues of Scientology and urges viewers to embrace its ethics and worldview. Among many, many other things, he drops gems like 'We are the authorities on getting people off drugs. We are the authorities on the mind. We are the authorities on improving conditions' and 'We are the way to happiness. We can bring peace and unite cultures.'"
Sam Bayard, Gawker Defies Demand from Church of Scientology to Remove Creepy Tom Cruise Video

"The Associated Press is reporting that New Hampshire will no longer issue identification cards to journalists. . . . This change is largely symbolic, however, as event organizers usually issue their own credentials to journalists and don't rely on the state to determine who should get a press pass."
David Ardia, New Hampshire to Stop Issuing ID Cards to Journalists

"In a case of first impression in Texas, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that the 'single publication rule,' which states that the statute of limitations period for libel begins to run when a defamatory statement is first published, applies to publications on the Internet. . . . This is an important decision for both traditional and non-traditional publishers. If Nationwide's view of the law were to carry the day, it would eviscerate the statute of limitations for defamation on the Internet. Online publishers would then be faced with only one way to cabin their legal liability and protect against stale claims: delete all content older than one year. No more archives, no more wayback machine, just today's news folks. Is that the kind of Internet we want?"
David Ardia, Court of Appeals Affirms that Single Publication Rule Applies to Internet

"Glenn Greenwald accurately explains the grotesque result of laws that seek to curb that amorphous problem of 'hate speech' — a concept that turns free speech on its head. And unlike many of his colleagues on the political left, Greenwald explains why he’s defending people whose speech frequently deserves contempt. . . . How many times can we say this? If you care about your own free speech rights, you must defend the rights of people whose speech makes your blood boil."
Dan Gillmor, Ban 'Hate Speech' at Your Own Peril

"This is terrible news. CNN and TechCrunch reported Friday that city officials in central China beat a man to death for attempting to record a protest on his mobile phone. Apparently, there was some sort of confrontation between villagers in the central Chinese province of Hubei and local municipal 'inspectors' over the dumping of waste near the villagers' homes. When Wei Wenhua, a 41-year-old construction company executive, tried to film the altercation with his camera phone, a group of more than 50 of the inspectors attacked him, beating him for five minutes, according to China's Xinhua news agency. Government investigators later recovered Wei's mobile phone, but the video had been deleted."
Sam Bayard, Chinese Citizen Journalist Beaten to Death by City Officials