Re: 2/26/02 - Internet.com: Do You Know Your Online Rights?; Chillingeffects.org
Do You Know Your Online Rights?
By Michael Singer
When Kelly Fero launched the now infamous site EnronOwnsTheGOP.com he never expected much fan fare, especially from the GOP.
"If they were smart, they would have ignored the site altogether," says Fero. "Since the news broke, I've had a lot of visitors to my site and I'm sure they have had an increase of hits at their site too."
But when he got a phone call and then a cease-and-desist letter from Texas' GOP lawyers, the Democratic strategist took note. Last week, state Republicans filed ethics complaints about the site.
The brouhaha centers on Fero's use of the Republican Party of Texas' symbol of an elephant with an Enron logo replacing the usual map of the State of Texas. Lawyers want Fero to stop using the graphic because of the confusion it may cause.
"No one is going to confuse a site called EnronOwnsTheGOP with the party's home page," says Fero. "I've been doing this for way too long to over estimate the savvy of lawyers who work with the Republicans. But I never expected them to kick this up in a legal way.
Fero's plight is not that uncommon and actually addresses a growing problem in the Internet community - the legal ramifications of published content.
Now, a group of four major law school legal clinics and San Francisco-based online non-profit, civil liberties organization Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), has launched a site to help people with similar legal troubles.
ChillingEffects.org brings the EFF together with Internet law clinics at Harvard, Stanford, the University of California at Berkeley, and the University of San Francisco. The site, which debuted Monday, is expected to grow to include additional law schools.
The project is serving as an online clearinghouse where Internet users can get information and add their own cease-and-desist letters. Students at the participating law school clinics will review the letters and annotate them with links to explain applicable legal rules.
The name "ChillingEffects" refers to the way the group says legal threats can freeze out free expression.
"The Internet makes it easier for individuals to speak to a wide audience, but it also makes it easier for other people and corporations to silence that speech," says Berkman Center Fellow Wendy Seltzer, who conceived the project and programmed the website. "Chilling Effects aims to level the field by helping online speakers to understand their rights in the face of legal threats."
Right now, the site offers basic legal information on issues like fan fiction, copyright and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, trademark and domain names, anonymous speech, and defamation. The group expects to add new topics as new issues pop up.
For example, if an Internet user receives a letter demanding that he or she remove a synopsis of a "Star Trek" episode from her Web site, members of the Chilling Effects team would post the letter online, embedding it with links to information about basic copyright protections, the rules governing synopses, and the fair use doctrine.
The EFF, which continues to take up Free Speech issues, says it was just getting too swamped with requests to continue addressing legal questions alone.
"EFF receives hundreds of requests for help and information from recipients of cease-and-desist letters," said EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn. "This project should help individuals gain access to greatly needed information as well as allow us to track who is sending these letters and research larger trends."
In addition to publishing cease-and-desist letters, the Chilling Effects team says it will publish periodic "weather reports" assessing the legal climate for Internet activity. The reports will seek to answer such questions as what types of Internet activity are most vulnerable to legal threats.
"I got a lot of supportive phone calls and e-mails from people in the First Amendment community," says Fero. "The thing to remember in all of this is that you have rights too."
So far, Fero says the Texas GOP has not made good on any of its legal threats, nor has it disputed any of the content within the site - including the name EnronOwnsTheGOP.
February 25, 2002
Copyright 2002 INT Media Group, Incorporated All Rights Reserved.
siliconvalley.internet.com
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This is a must read site...
Chilling Effects Clearinghouse
A joint project of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, and University of San Francisco law school clinics.
Do you know your online rights? Have you received a letter asking you to remove information from a Web site or to stop engaging in an activity? Are you concerned about liability for information that someone else posted to your online forum? If so, this site is for you.
Chilling Effects aims to help you understand the protections that the First Amendment and intellectual property laws give to your online activities. We are excited about the new opportunities the Internet offers individuals to express their views, parody politicians, celebrate their favorite movie stars, or criticize businesses. But we've noticed that not everyone feels the same way. Anecdotal evidence suggests that some individuals and corporations are using intellectual property and other laws to silence other online users. Chilling Effects encourages respect for intellectual property law, while frowning on its misuse to "chill" legitimate activity.
The website offers background material and explanations of the law for people whose websites deal with topics such as Fan Fiction, Copyright, Domain Names and Trademarks, Anonymous Speech, and Defamation.
In addition, we want your help. We will be gathering a searchable database of Cease and Desist notices sent to Internet users like you. We invite you to input Cease and Desist letters that you've received into our database. We will respond by linking the legalese in the letters to FAQs that explain the allegations in plain English.
Periodically, we will issue "weather reports" assessing the climate for Internet activity based on the letters we receive and news reports. What areas (topics, legal categories, jurisdictions) are coolest to online conduct? What activities risk being frozen out altogether? What conduct gets the warmest reception?
Getting Started:
The Chilling Effects Clearinghouse contains multiple topic areas. Choose a topic area to view its introduction, Frequently Asked Questions, and annotated Cease & Desist notices, along with reference material and recent news links.
If you are visiting because you have received a Cease & Desist notice, we invite you to input your notice in the database. Questions on the submission form will help to categorize your letter, and then guide you toward topic areas for further information. Once the notice is in our database, clinical law students will be able to annotate it with questions and answers.
Sample Cease and Desist Letter with Analysis
Chilling Effects is a joint project of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and clinics at Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Stanford Law School's Center for Internet & Society, Boalt Hall's Samuelson Law, Technology and Public Policy Clinic, and other law schools across the country.
For more information, see the Frequently Asked Questions about Chilling Effects Clearinghouse.
chillingeffects.org |
