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 blog...

Dan Ray explains that Endgadget is free to silence the nattering nabobs of negativity.
Just Say No to the Sewer: Section 230 No Obstacle to Editing Comments 

Eric Robinson has a warning for activists trying to play "press"-up.
Denying Anti-SLAPP Coverage, Massachusetts High Court Draws Activist/Journalist Boundary

Justin Silverman reports on a local station's attempts to put the, um, genie back in the bottle.
Pete Bouchard and the Battle Against Bogus Takedowns

Arthur Bright passes the virtual hat for Wikileaks.
Wikileaks Needs Financial Help

CMLP Staff announces a partnership to spread some sunlight (now if only we could get the weatherman on board #drearywintergoaway).
Online Media Legal Network Announces Partnership with National Freedom of Information Coalition

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Recent threats added to the CMLP database...

DeRosa v. Rattanni
Posted Feb. 4th, 2010

DeRosa v. Does
Posted Feb. 4th, 2010

Hvide v. Doe
Posted Feb. 3rd, 2010

Kindelan v. Hoffman
Posted Feb. 1st, 2010

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Other citizen media law news...

Missing funny bone leads to DMCA for Awkward Stock Photos
Ars Technica - Thurs. 02/04/10

Rulings cloud issue of student MySpace suspensions
Associated Press - Thurs. 02/04/10

College journalists included in proposed amendment to Md. shield law
Student Press Law Center - Wed. 02/03/10

Miami official threatens blogger over comment; what about Section 230?
Copyrights & Campaigns - Tues. 02/02/10

Facebook GC Tells Lawyers He's Looking for a Fight
Law.com - Tues. 02/02/10

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The full(er) Brief...

"If you're a fan of high-tech gadgets or Internet drama, you might have noticed the brouhaha brewing at Engadget this week. Long known for its comment sections ranking just above the YouTube level on the scale of man's inhumanity to man, the site prompted a new wave of bile last week with its coverage of Apple's iPad announcement. After mocking the anti-Apple commenters failed to stop them, Engadget disabled its comments Monday. This is all well and good, of course—it's up to Engadget to decide whether and how it will offer a commenting function. Some of the coverage of Engadget's decision, however, didn't quite get this right. Wired's Epicenter blog suggested that Engadget was forced to disable commenting completely in order to avoid legal liability for what its commenters posted. 'The one thing publications can't do,' he wrote, 'is edit comments.' Fortunately for online publishers of all stripes, Epicenter was mistaken. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act ('Section 230') shields website operators who exercise normal editorial control over their users' content, and this includes editing the content of the comments themselves. . . ."
Dan Ray, Just Say No to the Sewer: Section 230 No Obstacle to Editing Comments 

"A ruling by the highest court in Massachusetts could impact the methods that activists use to advocate their causes, by setting a boundary between activism that is protected by the state's anti-SLAPP statute and factual reporting, which is not. Earlier this week, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruled in Fustolo v. Hollander, SJC-10485 (Mass. Feb. 1, 2010), that the writer of newspaper articles on a local development controversy could not use the state's anti-SLAPP statute to get defamation claims by a developer dismissed, even though the writer was also involved in the story as the co-founder of a community group that opposed the development. . . . Despite the SJC's assurances, this ruling could make activists who use journalistic methods to further their causes more vulnerable to defamation and other lawsuits in Massachusetts. Regardless of constitutional protections, the decision potentially deprives them of a powerful weapon against frivolous lawsuits—most importantly, the anti-SLAPP statute awards a prevailing defendant costs and attorney's fees."
Eric Robinson, Denying Anti-SLAPP Coverage, Massachusetts High Court Draws Activist/Journalist Boundary

"During an on-air forecast last month, [the weather forecaster Pete] Bouchard said ... ‘The biggest amount [of snow] I could find—almost as big as me—about 9 inches. . . .' I quickly posted the YouTube clip to my Facebook page. But before my friends could share in the laugh, a takedown message appeared where the original clip once did: 'This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by WHDH-TV.' Apparently Channel 7 isn't interested in advertising the size of its weatherman's weather vane. . . . Under the DMCA's safe harbor provisions, websites are protected from copyright liability for hosting videos posted by users so long as they promptly remove the infringing material when notified by the copyright holder. . . . The DMCA's notice-and-takedown mechanism puts the onus on the individual who posted the material to send a counter-notice asking that the material be put back up and usually raising some defense to copyright infringement, such as fair use. [However], lack of concern for fair use is common. . . . The Electronic Frontier Foundation has always been at the forefront of the effort to turn this situation around. EFF tackles the problem both by training public attention on abusive takedown practices and through litigation aimed at recovering money damages and legal fees from bad actors. It looks like there might be a decisive ruling soon in the most high profile of this latter category of cases, Lenz v. Universal Music, which is pending in federal district court in California. . . ."  
Justin Silverman, Pete Bouchard and the Battle Against Bogus Takedowns

"[T]he whistleblower site Wikileaks stands as an example of how we can break down some of the barriers to greater transparency. While not without controversy, some of it probably well deserved, the three-year-old site has made a valuable contribution to journalism and to public debate more generally, a contribution recognized on both sides of the political spectrum, from The Economist to Amnesty International. Unfortunately, Wikileaks recently has been forced to suspend operations. Although its many legal opponents were unable to bring it down in court, the website has apparently fallen victim to the more banal necessity of cash flow. According to its homepage, it is $70,000 short of basic operating costs, and $470,000 short of its total budget (which includes staff salaries). And until it has at least enough cash to cover its basic costs, Wikileaks is on hiatus. . . . On the plus side, some of the British media are drumming up support for Wikileaks. Wired UK writes that both The Guardian and The Spectator have run editorials encouraging people to donate to the cause. . . ." 
Arthur Bright, Wikileaks Needs Financial Help

"The Citizen Media Law Project is pleased to announce that its Online Media Legal Network (OMLN) is partnering with the National Freedom of Information Coalition (NFOIC) to assist with freedom of information lawsuits and to provide online journalists with FOI information and assistance. We are honored to join forces with NFOIC, a key player in the FOI field, and we look forward to a mutually beneficial relationship. . . ." 
CMLP Staff, Online Media Legal Network Announces Partnership with National Freedom of Information Coalition

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