Privacy & Technology : Internet Free Speech

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The Court has ruled that Grokster can be sued if its software is used

to illegally swap music and movies. The Court also said cable

companies can deny rivals access to broadband lines.

 

The ACLU's vision of an uncensored Internet was clearly shared by the

U.S. Supreme Court when it struck down the 1996 Communications Decency

Act (CDA), a federal law that outlawed " indecent " communications

online. Ruling unanimously in Reno v. ACLU, the Court declared the

Internet to be a free speech zone, deserving of at least as much First

Amendment protection as that afforded to books, newspapers and

magazines. The government, the Court said, can no more restrict a

person's access to words or images on the Internet than it could be

allowed to snatch a book out of a reader's hands in the library, or

cover over a statue of a nude in a museum.

 

The importance of the Internet as the " the most participatory form of

mass speech yet developed, " requires that the courts perpetually

uphold the freedom of speech.

FREE SPEECH LITIGATION

> Ashcroft v. ACLU - Challenge to Internet Censorship Law

> US v. American Library Assn. - Supreme Court Rules On Challenge to

Library Web Blocking Law

> Edelman v. N2H2 Inc. - Protecting Censorware Research from DMCA

> Melvin v.Doe - Challenging Frivolous Breaches of Online Anonymity

> Closed Internet free speech cases

> List of other relevant Internet free speech litigation

 

Privacy Technology : Internet Free Speech : Press Releases view all

(All Links)

 

Utah Businesses, Free Speech Groups and Individuals Challenge

Restrictions on Internet Speech (06/09/2005)

SALT LAKE CITY -- Citing free speech and interstate commerce

violations, the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah today joined a

broad based group of bookstores, artistic and informative Web sites,

Internet Service Providers and national trade associations in filing a

federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a Utah law meant

to restrict children's access to material on the Internet.

 

ACLU of Rhode Island Files Open Records Lawsuit Against North

Smithfield (06/01/2005)

NORTH SMITHFIELD, RI -- For the third time in two years, the American

Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island has taken legal action against

the town of North Smithfield, this time for a violation of the state's

open records law. Today's lawsuit challenges a requirement by the town

that any individual seeking access to an online database of public

records must first provide personal information.

 

ACLU of Rhode Island Releases Report on " Troubling " Internet

Censorship in State's Public Libraries (04/19/2005)

PROVIDENCE, RI -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island

today released a report showing that public libraries in the state are

impeding patrons' access to information on the Internet through the

unnecessarily expansive use of so-called " " blocking software. " "

Calling the findings " " troubling, " " the 18-page report, " " Reader's

Block, " " urged libraries to reassess the policies and practices they

have implemented.

 

Supreme Court Hears Two Cases Critical For Future Of Online Free

Speech (03/29/2005)

NEW YORK -- Two cases being heard by the Supreme Court today will

determine whether the Internet remains the open forum for free speech

that it has always been, according to the American Civil Liberties

Union, which filed friend-of-the-court briefs in each of them.

 

Federal Court Strikes Down Pennsylvania Law That Blocked More Than One

Million Legal Web Sites (09/10/2004)

PHILADELPHIA -- In a critical test of a novel attempt to regulate

speech on the Internet, a federal judge today held Pennsylvania's web

blocking law to be unconstitutional. The court found that the state's

" " Internet Child Pornography Act " " was ineffective in blocking child

pornography, but was very effective in blocking access to more than

one million constitutionally protected web sites with no sexual content.

Privacy Technology : Internet Free Speech : Publications view all

 

Open Access Supplemental Technical Report (02/18/2005)

Technological Analysis of Open Access and Cable TV - Supplemental

Analysis, by Columbia Telecommunications Corp. for the ACLU

 

Censorship in a Box: Why Blocking Software is Wrong for Public

Libraries (09/16/2002)

 

No Competition: How Monopoly Control of the Broadband Internet

Threatens Free Speech (07/07/2002)

 

Pretrial Brief in Multnomah v. US Filed by the ACLU (03/17/2002)

 

Fahrenheit 451.2: Is Cyberspace Burning? (03/17/2002)

How Rating and Blocking Proposals May Torch Free Speech on the Internet

Privacy Technology : Internet Free Speech : Legal Documents view all

 

Legal Briefs in Ashcroft v. ACLU (02/24/2004)

All legal briefs pertaining to the Supreme Court's revisitation of

COPA, the Child Online Protection Act

 

ACLU's Merits Brief for the Respondents in Ashcroft v. ACLU II

(02/12/2004)

 

Text of the Council on Europe's Convention on Cybercrime Treaty

(12/03/2003)

 

Amicus brief by the Family Research Council in Ashcroft v. ACLU II

(11/25/2003)

 

Affidavit of Patrick Ball in ACLU v. Miller (10/09/2003)

Privacy Technology : Internet Free Speech : Legislative Documents

view all

 

Coalition Letter to House Judiciary Chairman Sensenbrenner and Ranking

Member Conyers Expressing Concerns and Urging the Committee to Delay

the Markup of H.R. 3754, " The Fraudulent Online Identity Sanctions

Act " (05/04/2004)

 

Letter on S. 151, The Prosecutorial Remedies and Tools Against the

Exploitation of Children Today Act of 2003 (02/05/2003)

 

Letter to the Senate on S. 151, The Prosecutorial Remedies and Tools

Against the Exploitation of Children Today Act of 2003 (01/29/2003)

 

Letter to the Senate Urging Opposition to S. 2537/H.R. 3833/H.R. 3833,

the " Dot Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act of 2002 " (11/06/2002)

 

Interested Persons Memo on H.R. 3833, the Dot Kids Implementation and

Efficiency Act of 2002 (05/20/2002)

Privacy Technology : Internet Free Speech : Resources view all

 

Monopoly Control of Broadband Internet Threatens Free Speech (03/29/2005)

 

Speech at Risk Under COPA (02/27/2004)

 

Melvin v. Doe (01/15/2004)

Featurette on the privacy case of Melvin v. Doe

 

Feature on the International Cybercrime Treaty (12/18/2003)

Feature on the International Cybercrime Treaty

 

Library filtering after US v. ALA: What does it all mean and what

should we do (08/01/2003)

ACLU Memo: Library filtering after US v. ALA: What does it all mean

and what should we do

Privacy Technology : Internet Free Speech : Fact Sheets

 

Supreme Court and COPA (05/15/2002)

A summary of the Supreme Court's decision in ACLU v. Ashcroft

concerning the Child Online Protection Act

 

Fact Sheet on Children's Internet Protection Act (04/20/2002)

The ACLU argued in court that a federal law that forces libraries to

censor constitutionally protected speech online (CIPA) is

unconstitutional and should be thrown out.