Week of November 20, 2009 [1]
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...
Arthur Bright sees a glimmer of hope from across the pond.
Is Britain Putting an End to Libel Tourism? [2]
CMLP announces an exciting new initiative.
Citizen Media Law Project Launches Legal Assistance Network for Online Journalists [3]
Kimberley Isbell has all the news that's fit to blog from last week's PLI meeting on Communications in the Digital Age.
CMLP Gets Lectured [4]
Andrew Moshirnia frets about threats to the continued availability of coffee with a shot of WiFi.
The MPAA Lottery: Town of Coshocton Draws the Black Spot [5]
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Recent threats added to the CMLP database...
United States v. Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, Inc. USA [6]
Posted Nov. 20, 2009
Huntingdon Life Sciences, Inc. v. Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, Inc. USA [7]
Posted Nov. 18, 2009
Florida v. RateMyCop.com [8]
Posted Nov. 18, 2009
Florida v. Brayshaw [9]
Posted Nov. 18, 2009
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Other citizen media law news...
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press [11] - Thurs. 11/19/09
Paper outs "anonymous" commenter, job loss ensues
Ars Technica [12] - Wed. 11/18/09
Finding the law that governs us
The Official Google Blog [13] - Tues. 11/17/09
Free Speech Protection Act could slow 'libel tourism'
CPJ Blog [14] - Tues. 11/17/09
Investigating Medill 'Innocence Project' could chill students' reporting
The First Amendment Center [15] - Sun. 11/15/09
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The full(er) Brief...
"Could Britain finally be moving to shed its unflattering title of 'libel capital of the world'? We can only hope, of course, but it does appear to be edging that way, thanks to a recent High Court decision to toss a textbook 'libel tourism' case. In the case, Out-law.com reports that Mr. Justice Tugendhat threw out the claims brought by Zimbabwe-oriented investment firm LonZim and two executives against Andrew Sprague, who criticized the company on the website of a South African magazine in May 2009. The plaintiffs alleged that Sprague's article false accused them of 'cynically and greedily indulg[ing] in self-enrichment at the expense of, and contrary to the interests of, shareholders.' . . . Until the British Supreme Court or Parliament weighs in on the matter, there's no guarantee that either of these cases will hold up. And that being the case, foreign publishers are wise to keep the pressure on. Britain hasn't shed its libel title just yet. But hopefully it will soon. . . ."
Arthur Bright, Is Britain Putting an End to Libel Tourism? [2]
"We are delighted to announce the public launch of the Berkman Center's Online Media Legal Network (OMLN), a new pro bono (i.e., free!) initiative that connects lawyers and law school clinics from across the country with online journalists and digital media creators who need legal help. Lawyers participating in OMLN will provide qualifying online publishers with pro bono and reduced fee legal assistance on a broad range of legal issues, including business formation and governance, copyright licensing and fair use, employment and freelancer agreements, access to government information, pre-publication review of content, and representation in litigation. . . . CMLP would like to extend thanks to all the law firms, lawyers, and law school clinics that already have generously agreed to contribute their time and expertise to OMLN. If you're a lawyer, pro bono coordinator, or clinic director interested in participating, please submit a membership application, available here. . . ."
CMLP Staff, Citizen Media Law Project Launches Legal Assistance Network for Online Journalists [3]
"Last week, the Practicing Law Institute hosted its annual program on Communications Law in the Digital Age. Up for discussion were a lot of topics near and dear to CMLP's heart: trends in First Amendment jurisprudence (including prognostications in US v. Stevens), the federal reporters' shield bill, the protection of anonymous commenters, libel tourism, the application of the single publication rule to the Internet, what the hell Congress meant by 'copyright management information' in 17 U.S.C. § 1202(c), the future of misappropriation and the 'hot news' doctrine, and legal developments related to FOIA and government sunshine laws. As anyone who was watching the CMLP Twitter feed probably noticed (you are following us on Twitter, aren't you?), some of the more interesting panelist exchanges centered on privacy issues and the pending federal reporters' shield law. . . ."
Kimberley Isbell, CMLP Gets Lectured [4]
"In The Lottery, Shirley Jackson explored the interplay of the banal and the barbaric. She described a town's old-fashioned agrarian ritual: an individual who has drawn a slip marked with a black spot is stoned to death in order to ensure a good harvest. . . . The entertainment industry is a superstitious animal. Since I can remember, it has held a lottery: selecting at random file sharers to pelt to death with stones marked TORT and BREACH. Though the human sacrifice doesn't seem to do much, the industry has continued the practice year after year. This is how it had always been. Though peculiar, this practice seems to elicit only mild revulsion in outsiders. That is, until last week, when the lottery suddenly changed . . . The MPAA ended up sacrificing an entire city block. The town of Coshocton, Ohio shut down the municipal WiFi around its courthouse because a single user had drawn the black spot and downloaded a copyrighted movie. The MPAA sent a 'breach notice' to OneCommunity (the local ISP), which in turn notified the county's Technology Department. And a short time later, the Muni WiFi was gone. . . ."
Andrew Moshirnia, The MPAA Lottery: Town of Coshocton Draws the Black Spot [5]
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