Re: 2/27/01 - [TMRT] NewsFactor: ACLU Defends Internet Anonymity
ACLU Defends Internet Anonymity
By Tim McDonald
NewsFactor Network
February 27, 2001
Defenders of Internet anonymity and free speech are in conflict with those who believe that hate speech is as abhorrent on the Internet as it is in any other medium, and should be removed.
Defenders of free expression and the right to retain anonymity on the Internet are clashing this week with those who say that hate literature and defamation have no place online.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed two separate actions defending online anonymity Monday, while in Canada, the four-year case of notorious Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel, expected to set legal precedent for hate literature on the Internet in that country, draws to a close.
The ACLU asked a U.S. court in Seattle, Washington to quash a subpoena that would force an Internet service provider (ISP) to reveal the identities of users who criticized a company in a bulletin board discussion.
And in Pennsylvania, the ACLU challenged Judge Joan Orie Melvin's attempt to use the courts in an effort to uncover the identity of the person who criticized her on a Web site.
Intimidation on Rise
ACLU officials said legal intimidation tactics have increased toward those who voice their opinions on the Web. Internet titan America Online (AOL), which also filed an appeal in the Melvin case, said it handled about 475 similar subpoenas last year.
AOL's brief said such attempts to intimidate online critics through legal means constitutes "an illegitimate use of the courts to silence and retaliate against speakers."
The case arose when Melvin, an Allegheny County (New York) State Superior Court Judge, came upon critical comments in an online magazine called "Grant Street 1999." The author accused the judge of lobbying on behalf of an attorney who was seeking a judgeship, and Melvin filed a defamation lawsuit in an attempt to learn the critic's name.
A state court ruled last November that public officials cannot use frivolous lawsuits to ferret out the identities of those who criticize them, but did not specifically dismiss the Melvin case.
Pseudonyms 'Promote Diversity'
The Washington state case, in which the ACLU is joined by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, involves the right of Internet bulletin board users to use pseudonyms.
The two organizations are trying to block a subpoena by a firm called 2TheMart.com that seeks to learn the identities of 23 people who made critical comments in bulletin board discussions on the Silicon Investor Web site, owned by InfoSpace. The company, 2TheMart, is the defendant in a class-action lawsuit alleging securities fraud.
"[The use of pseudonyms] promotes a diversity of viewpoints in cyberspace," ACLU attorney Aaron Caplan told the media. "The right to speak anonymously on an Internet bulletin board should be upheld just as is the right to distribute a leaflet using a pseudonym."
The ACLU claims most online speech should fall under slander laws, not the more serious libel statutes. Slander is spoken defamation, while libel refers to defamation that has been published. While bulletin board comments are published, in a sense, the ACLU argues they are more accurately considered conversation.
Zundel Now in U.S.
In the Zundel case, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal is expected to rule soon. Critics say Zundel's Web site, "Zundelsite," is a continuing effort to promote hatred of Jews. Zundel, now living in the United States, has refused to attend the hearings, and his lawyer skipped the closing arguments, saying the tribunal has no jurisdiction since the site is now based in California.
However, those seeking to have the site shuttered argue that the case falls under a section of the Canadian Human Rights Act that refers to "telephonic" devices, since the site can be accessed in Canada through telephone lines.
The case was launched in 1997 by a Toronto resident and the Mayor's Committee on Community and Race Relations. Several Jewish groups are also petitioning the tribunal to force Zundel to remove racist material on the site.
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