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Citizen Media Law Project

Legal training and resources to protect free online speech. Advocacy for citizen participation in online media.
By Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School and the Center for Citizen Media

Post Frequency: 3.9/day

Last Entry: July 20, 2010 at 10:11:43

The Role of Internet Intermediaries in Censoring Online Speech

Posted on December 01, 2008
Today I came across two excellent pieces touching on the role of intermediaries in censorship/regulation of online speech internationally: The first is Rebecca MacKinnon's detailed blog post on her research on censorship of Chinese blogs. She looked at Chinese blog-hosting services, including foreign brands offering services inside China, and tried to determine how much variation exists in terms of "what gets censored and how it gets censored...

Jury Finds Lori Drew Not Guilty on Felony Charges

Posted on November 26, 2008
Wired/Threat Level reports: Lori Drew, the 49-year-old woman charged in the first federal cyberbullying case, was cleared of felony computer-hacking charges by a jury Wednesday morning, but convicted of three misdemeanors. The jury deadlocked on a remaining felony charge of conspiracy...

News Links

Posted on November 25, 2008
I usually send this out to the CMLP's team of intrepid bloggers to pique their interest, but with the Thanksgiving holiday upon us, I figured I'd avoid the middleman. Things that caught my eye this week... BlockShopper Brings in the Big Guns - It's nice to see Blockshopper...

California Real Estate Companies Pursue Bogus Lanham Act Claim Against Tenants

Posted on November 24, 2008
Paul Levy of Public Citizen recently tipped us off to a new John Doe case in federal court in California. In this case, two real estate companies, Parkmerced Investors Properties LLC and Stellar Larkspur Partners LLC, have sued eighteen unknown defendants for violation of the Lanham Act (15 U...

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Lori Drew Trial Ongoing, Legal Issues Still Unclear

Posted on November 21, 2008
Lori Drew's trial for allegedly violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) began this week. There has been some great coverage of the proceedings, including the following highlights: Wired/Threat Level: Dead Teen's Mother Testifies about Daughter's Vulnerability in MySpace Suicide Case Washington Post: Witness recalls last message in MySpace hoax case Concurring Opinions: The Lori Drew Case - Does the CFAA Require Knowledge? Wired/Threat Level: Prosecutor - Lori Drew Intended to 'Prey' on Girl's Psyche A couple of noteworthy points: First, the prosecution's star witness Ashley Grill, Drew's former employee, admitted that it was her idea to set up the fake MySpace account for "Josh Evans" and that she sent the last message from "Josh" to Megan Meier in October 2006 saying that the world would be a better place without Megan...

Jones Day v. BlockShopper: Court Chooses Legal Formality Over Common Sense

Posted on November 20, 2008
Last Thursday, a federal district judge denied BlockShopper.com's motion to dismiss Jones Day's complaint alleging trademark infringement and dilution. The lawsuit arose out of BlockShopper's reports on two condominium purchases by Jones Day associates Dan Malone Jr...

Douchetastic Defamation Suit Filed

Posted on November 19, 2008
Michael Minelli, a 27-year old "club promoter," is spewing vinegar at Simon and Schuster, publisher of the book Hot Chicks with Douchebags. Apparently, Mr. Minelli finds the description "douchebag" to be inaccurate, and to say the least, neither sweet nor fresh...

Workshop on Managing Online Reader Contributions and Comments

Posted on November 18, 2008
This Thursday I'll be participating in a "collaborative workshop" involving newspaper editors and media lawyers addressing the challenges associated with managing online reader contributions and comments. The half-day workshop is sponsored by the New England Newspaper Association, New England Press Association, and Prince, Lobel, Glovsky & Tye...

Nude Bike Riding Protected by the First Amendment

Posted on November 18, 2008
Michael "Bobby" Hammond, 21, inspired by his recent participation in the annual World Naked Bike Ride -- an event that protests against car culture, decided to take his vintage 10-speed bicycle for a spin through the streets of Portland, Oregon while wearing nothing but a bicycle helmet...

Two New Ripoff Report Cases Filed

Posted on November 17, 2008
Eric Goldman reminds us (here, here) that angry companies and individuals are still suing Xcentric Ventures, LLC and Ed Magedson left and right over reports submitted to Ripoff Report. Ripoff Report is a website that allows users to post reports about individuals and companies that they believe have "ripped them off" or treated them unfairly...

Schools Lack Authority to Punish Online Student Speech

Posted on November 13, 2008
One of the major issues facing schools is whether they have authority to discipline their students for speech on the Internet. In an article I wrote that will appear in the December 2008 issue of the Florida Law Review, I argue that public secondary schools have virtually no authority under the First Amendment to punish students for online speech...

Lori Drew Trial To Start Next Week

Posted on November 12, 2008
Believe it or not, the criminal case against Lori Drew heads to trial next Tuesday. Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles indicted Drew last May for her alleged role in a hoax on MySpace directed at Megan Meier, a 13-year-old neighbor of Drew's who committed suicide in October 2006...

Court Rejects Bid to Silence Mortgage Watchdog Website

Posted on November 11, 2008
The Mortgage Lender Implode-O-Meter, a mortgage watchdog website, announced on Friday that a federal judge denied a motion for a preliminary injunction against it filed by Global Direct Sales, LLC, the Penobscot Indian Nation, Christopher Russell, and Ryan Hill...

These Anonymous Critics ARE Cowards

Posted on November 10, 2008
The AP reports, "Palin derides anonymous critics on Fox as cowards," a reference to a recent Fox News segment in which a correspondent relayed a variety of negative attacks from, he said, members of the McCain campaign staff against Sarah Palin. No matter what you think about Palin in general, she's right in this case...

CMLP and Leading Online News Organizations File Amici Curiae Brief in Cape Cod Defamation Case

Posted on November 10, 2008
On Friday, the Citizen Media Law Project joined with the Online News Association, Media Bloggers Association, New England Press Association, and Globe Newspaper Company, publisher of The Boston Globe and Boston.com, to submit an amici curiae brief that argues that the Massachusetts anti-SLAPP statute applies to all parties, including members of the news media and professional bloggers, who engage in petitioning activities...

Charges Filed Against Google Executives in Italy Over User Video

Posted on November 07, 2008
Our intern Arthur Bright wrote an excellent post this summer on the prospect of criminal defamation charges being filed against Google executives in Italy over Google Video's hosting of a clip featuring the abuse of a teenager who has Down syndrome. Ars Technica reports that Italian authorities have now filed charges: When Internet video hosts get dragged into the court room, chances are good they're getting sued for something related to copyrighted material...

Don't Blame The Messenger: Political News Site Faces Defamation Lawsuit By G.O.P. Official

Posted on November 05, 2008
Just because the election is over, it doesn't mean that some of this season's political fights won't continue on in the courts. Here's one from our legal threats database, Carabelli v. The Michigan Messenger: James Carabelli, chairman of the Republican Party in Macomb County, Michigan, sued The Michigan Messenger, a news site owned by the Center for Independent Media, for defamation in Michigan state court in October 2008...

Get Out And Vote: Election Day Resources

Posted on November 04, 2008
I am about to head out and vote, but before I do I want to exhort all of our readers who haven't yet voted to GO OUT AND VOTE! Don't know where to vote? Go here to find out. Once you've voted, do your part and upload the details of your experience to one (or all) of the organizations seeking to collect information about this election...

Documenting Your Vote: Massachusetts Election Laws

Posted on November 03, 2008
Massachusetts has no statutory provision that specifically prohibits the use of photographic or video equipment inside a polling place while you are voting. There is, however, a Massachusetts statute that makes it a crime to "hinder[], delay[] or interfere[] with ...

Georgia Law Prohibits Recording Inside Polling Places

Posted on October 31, 2008
Georgia is one of the states that explicitly prohibits photography inside polling places. Section 21-2-413(e) of the Georgia Code states: No elector shall use photographic or other electronic monitoring or recording devices or cellular telephones while such elector is within the enclosed space in a polling place...

The Role of Citizen Media in Ensuring Fair Elections

Posted on October 30, 2008
Yesterday, I read an article in the New York Times describing the fears some voters in Duval County, Florida have that their early votes will be lost and never counted. I found the article deeply disturbing. It wasn't because it surprised me that people fear their votes won't be counted (that fear has some precedent in Duval County, where 26,000 ballots were discarded in the 2000 election), but because it brought into focus for me the apprehensive feelings I've been having about the upcoming election...

Michigan Secretary of State Warns Voters Not To Use Cameras Inside The Polls

Posted on October 29, 2008
Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land issued a press release today warning voters that Michigan law prohibits the use of video cameras, still cameras, and other recording devices inside Michigan polling places on Election Day. The release mentioned the Video Your Vote project by name, saying that the project "urging [voters] to record their Election Day experiences cannot be conducted in Michigan polling places...

Marking the Ten Year Anniversary of the DMCA

Posted on October 28, 2008
Today marks the ten year anniversary of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which President Clinton signed into law on October 28, 1998. For background on the DMCA, see our legal guide here and here. Now that we've had a decade to get to know the DMCA, it's time to reflect on the changes this important law has engendered...

Documenting Your Vote: North Carolina Election Laws

Posted on October 27, 2008
Although you wouldn't guess from the photograph on the right and others available online (here, here, and here), North Carolina law places heavy restrictions on photography and videography inside polling places on Election Day. Luckily, North Carolina also provides some helpful guidelines on permissible newsgathering activities at the polls...

Grace v. Neeley

Posted on October 26, 2008

Rapp v. Jews for Jesus, Rehnquist in Brennan's Robes

Posted on October 24, 2008
In Jews for Jesus v. Rapp, No. SC06-2491, 2008 WL 4659374 (Fla. Oct. 23, 2008), the Florida Supreme Court appears to do the First Amendment a great service by declining to recognize the false light invasion of privacy tort. However, this is a case of the ghost of William Rehnquist haunting Florida after stealing William Brennan's robes...

U.K. Man Sued for Libel over Feedback on eBay

Posted on October 24, 2008
The Telegraph is reporting that a U.K. man has filed a libel lawsuit over negative feedback he received from a buyer on eBay: Chris Read used the auction website's feedback facility to claim that the device he was sold by Joel Jones, a 26-year-old businessman from Suffolk, did not live up to its billing...

Law School Classmates Fight Over Hog on Ice

Posted on October 23, 2008
Those of you who are regular readers of this blog know that we maintain a database of legal threats (lawsuits, subpoenas, C&D letters, etc.) directed at online and citizen media (BTW, if you know of a threat that we've missed, please add it). One of the things we try to collect for every entry is whether a party is represented by a lawyer...

Documenting Your Vote: Pennsylvania Election Laws

Posted on October 22, 2008
Although Pennsylvania no longer looks like much of a swing state, today I'll discuss the Pennsylvania laws that impact your ability to document your own voting experience through video and still photography, as well as your ability to carry out other newsgathering functions, such as interviewing other voters outside of polling places...

Copyright, Politics, and McCain's Request for Special Treatment

Posted on October 21, 2008
Last week we reported that the McCain campaign had sent a letter to YouTube complaining that its campaign videos were being removed from YouTube as a result of unjustified DMCA takedown requests sent by news organizations whose footage was included in the videos...

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