The Powerful anti-SOPA protests show why corporations, too, need First Amendment rights

BY PETER SCHEER—Some thoughts on the dramatic and remarkably effective demonstrations by Google, Wikipedia, et al. against federal anti-piracy legislation (the Stop Online Piracy Act, “SOPA,” and companion legislation in the Senate): Successful technology firms pride themselves on their capacity to disrupt the established order. The reference is usually to a technological advance that poses [...]

Website blackouts to protest online piracy laws called success

The blackout of websites, including BoingBoing, Reddit and Wikipedia, to protest the online piracy laws before Congress was successful in igniting opposition against the laws writes Ian Paul in PCWorld. Paul says that there were 2.4 million tweets on the topic during the first 16 hours on Wednesday and that the Los Angeles Times reported [...]

New journalism licensing group plans moderate aproach to protecting copyrights

Formed by 29 media companies, NewRight plans to act as a clearing house for content produced by major journalism ventures including the Associated Press, Hearst Newspapers, The New York Times Company and The Washington Post Company. NewsRight wants to sign up aggregators to see if they are willing to pay for news. -db From a [...]

Google finds cause in Righthaven appeal

Google has filed an amicus brief in the appeal of a Righthaven case to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals arguing for flexibility in applying the fair use doctrine. The case under appeal pitted Righthaven against the Center for Intercultural Organizing over the Center’s posting of a Las Vegas Review-Journal article. -db From the [...]

Opinion: EFF refutes arguments for online piracy legislation

The Electronic Freedom Foundation takes on what it says are distortions of the positions taken by those opposing the online piracy legislation recently introduced in both houses of Congress. While acknowledging that the tech industry recognizes the importance of copyright as it applies to the Internet, writes Trevor Timm for EFF, the Digital Millennium Copyright [...]

Federal judge rules critic of international spiritual organization can remain anonymous

A federal district judge in San Jose ruled that a blogger does not have to reveal his identity to the Art of Living Foundation that promotes spirituality lessons of Ravi Shankar. The blogger had published criticisms of the foundation along with one of  their manuals, an act that the foundation said infringed its copyright. The [...]

Sponsor of online piracy bill voices concerns over censorship issues

Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Lamar Smith R-Texas, expressed concerns over the scope of the Stop Online Piracy Act by saying that he was uncertain whether the Justice Department should be allowed to obtain court orders demanding that ISPs prevent users from visiting blacklisted websites, websites accused of infringing on intellectual property. Under [...]

If passed Online Piracy Act likely to face court challenges

Legislation backed by the entertainment industry to protect copyrights by stopping online piracy , the Stop Online Piracy Act, has support in Congress. But powerful interests including Google are poised to challenge the law if passed. -db From a commentary for the First Amendment Center, November 17, 2011, by David L. Hudson Jr. Full story [...]

Google marks pronounced rise in government requests for online data

Government world-wide are increasingly asking Google for information, causing the company to suggest that new laws are needed to govern Internet data. In the last six months, the U.S. government has made 5,950 requests for information with Google complying with 93 percent of the requests, and when asked to remove items, it complied 63 percent [...]

International free speech: EFF argues for lifting export restrictions on Internet communication tools

To promote Internet freedom and free speech around the world, the Electronic Freedom Foundation is urging the U.S. government to lift export restrictions on communication tools. Recently the Obama administration has suspended transactions with the Syrian government as part of U.S. sanctions of the oppressive regime but with the attendant effect of depriving Syrian citizens [...]

Report: U.S. corporations joining with tyrants to curb Internet freedom

Current laws and codes of conduct aren’t enough to prevent United States companies from helping repressive regimes censor the Internet and control information that have abetted human right abuses, according to a report from a Canadian security firm. The Global Online Freedom Act, a law under consideration, would prohibit U.S. companies from helping governments restrict [...]

Tradition of anonymous speech threatened by vicious defamatory postings

Cyberbullies have sullied Internet freedom in defamatory and cruel attacks against innocent citizens that have ruined lives. It is difficult to know what to do about it while defending the American tradition of anonymous speech, especially speech critical of the government. A Chicago lawyer makes a proposal that he thinks balances the interests of those [...]

Opinion: Google and others can perform a great public service by identifying online ‘journalism’

Writing in ZDNet, Sam Diaz says that Google, Facebook and Twitter have the information that could enable them with the help of the analysis of real journalists to identify which blog sites, tweets and news outlets should be labeled “journalism.” Diaz says “news” is different from “journalism” and the latter must be identified and labeled [...]

Google’s purchase of Motorola shows dangers of out-of-control patent litigation

BY PETER SCHEER—Google’s $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola is a sign of serious problems for the US economy. Motorola’s strategic appeal to Google is its portfolio of thousands of patents covering mobile phone technologies. But the acquisition of these patents creates no real value for Google. They are in the nature of a massive  premium [...]

Should there be a right to privacy on the Web?

Europe is pursuing a “right to be forgotten” on the Web as privacy advocates argue that the lifetime of certain postings ought to be curtailed. According to the New York Times, Spain has ordered Google to stop indexing Web files related to 90 people who complained to the country’s Data Protection Agency. Among the complainants: [...]

EFF director argues for use of online pseudonyms

With advent of the Google+ policy requiring users to identify by “the name your friend, family or do-workers usually call you,” Jillian York, a director for the Electronic Freedom Foundation argues that the benefits of pseudonyms outweigh the negatives, particularly for gays and other people subject to violence or harassment such as victims of domestic [...]

Federal judge allows National Security Agency to dodge question about ties to Google

A federal judge is allowing the National Security Agency to avoid answering the question about a possible relationship between the agency and Google after the China hacking incident of January 2010. The judge said NSA ruled the agency only had  state it can “neither confirm nor deny” that it has a relationship with Google.-db From [...]

Electronic Frontier Foundation urges Cisco and Microsoft to stop enabling Chinese oppression

An Electronic Frontier Foundation opinion piece argues that Microsoft and Cisco are more interested in abetting China’s repressive regime than taking a stand for freedom. With Google abandoning the search market in China rather than submit to censorship, Microsoft has recently stepped into the void by agreeing with Baidu to provide Bing web search services [...]

Facebook downplays trashing of Google in planted stories

Facebook hired a PR firm to persuade reporters and privacy advocates to write critical stories about Google’s Social Circle. Facebook denied that they had acted unethically, “No ’smear’ campaign was authorized or intended. Instead, we wanted third parties to verify that people did not approve of the collection and use of information from their accounts [...]

WikiLeaks founder says social media operate as tools for U.S. intelligence

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange called Facebook the “most appalling spy machine that has ever been invented.” Assange pointed out that a trove of information about people, their relationships, conversations and locations exists on the social media and that U.S. intelligence agencies could bring pressure on Facebook, Yahoo, Google and others to extract that information. -db [...]

Federal appeals court rules lower court must unseal Google report

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has granted MediaPost’s request for a court document with details of Google’s compliance with an order for it to deactivate a Gmail user’s account. The court ruled the district court had not made the case that the public had no right to access the report. The dispute originated with [...]

Rights groups back Google in suit by company challenging Google’s use of trademarks to trigger AdWords ads

Several public interest groups are lining up for Google in its fight against a lawsuit by Rosetta Stone because they say the suit tries to silence competition and stifle criticism. -db Online Media Daily December 6, 2010 By Wendy Davis First Amendment advocates and digital rights groups have weighed in on Google’s side in a [...]

Free speech: United States web site taken down for advocating violence

Google has removed a site, RevolutionMuslim.com, after British authorities complained that the site ran a post that included a list of British lawmakers who voted for the Iraq war and called for Muslims to “raise the knife of Jihad” against them -db The New York Times November 5, 2010 By Ravi Somaiya LONDON — A [...]

Judge orders Google to reveal name of YouTube cyberbully

Google has 15 days to reveal the identity of a person who posted comments calling a Columbia MBA graduate a “whore,” “a shank,” and “an old hag.” -db New York Daily News October 15, 2010 By Jose Martinez Columbia MBA graduate Carla Franklin went after Google in August in an attempt to unmask her online [...]

Political TV ads evade disclosure rules

The Federal Elections Commission said that in some circumstances, political candidates can run pay-per-click ads without disclosing who paid for the ad or whether the ad was approved by the candidate. -db Online Media Daily October 11, 2010 By Wendy Davis Handing Google a partial victory, the Federal Elections Commission said that political candidates can, [...]

Copyright law: Poorly defined’ fair use’ argument spawns court action

Lawyers are getting lots of work interpreting ‘fair use” from filmmakers, artists and writers who want to pull something from another person’s work. -db Variety Commentary September 24, 2010 By Ted Johnson Hollywood is united in standing up to the proliferation of piracy, but there’s an area of copyright law that leaves the industry perpetually [...]

Google launches tool showing governments’ attempts at censorship

Google is now showing the number of requests from governments for removing content from its search page, Gmail, YouTube and other services. -db CNET September 21, 2010 By Lance Whitney In the wake of Google’s censorship battles with China and other nations, the search giant has launched a new tool to reveal which governments are [...]

German court rules against YouTube in copyright dispute over Brightman videos

A German court ruled Friday that Google Inc.’s subsidiary YouTube LLC must pay compensation after users uploaded several videos of performances by singer Sarah Brightman in violation of copyright laws. September 3, 2010 By The Associated Press (CP) BERLIN —The Hamburg state court said the standardized question to users about whether they have the necessary [...]

Instruction in social media essential in journalism education

According to an online news pioneer, modern journalism students do not naturally see the social media as an important aspect of their professional repertoire. -db MediaShift August 30, 2010 By Alfred Hermida Social media is such a new phenomenon that it is easy for someone to claim to be an expert in the subject. A [...]

Google ignites debate about privacy

Internet giant Google has sparked a fiery privacy debate this week by claiming future teenagers will need to change their names when they reach adulthood to escape embarrassing online pasts. The Courier Mail August 20, 2010 By Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson In a warning experts have labelled hypocritical, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said the company knew “roughly [...]

Google CEO: Online Anonymity Is Dangerous

Google CEO Eric Schmidt has said anonymity on the Internet is dangerous, according to a report in the Huffington Post. August 11, 2010 By International Business Times In an interview with CNBC conducted at the Techonomy conference earlier this month, Schmidt offered an additional look at his views on online privacy and  anonymity, says the [...]

China Renews Google’s License

Google said that Beijing agreed to renew the company’s license to operate a Web site in mainland China, months after Google said it would stop censoring search results in China. Google’s challenge of Beijing’s authority, which followed a series of sophisticated online attacks which Google said originated in China, put into question Google’s ability to [...]

How is Social Media Impacting Free Speech Rights?

While social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter increase their user base,  and search engines like Google continue to grow, many wonder if they will become the gatekeepers of information of the future. – SMD Social Media and First Amendment Commentary July 6, 2010 By  Eric Kuhn, CNN Audience Interaction Producer Aspen, Colorado (CNN) – [...]

Google looks for way to satisfy government and keep its service going in China

After the Chinese government objected to Google’s rerouting users to an uncensored site in Hong Kong, the company struggles to come up with another strategy to continue service in China. -db The Wall Street Journal June 29, 2010 By Amir Efrati and Andrew Batson Google Inc. said it would change how Internet users in China access [...]

China filtering rather than blocking Google

Observers are saying China is balancing its censorship policy with pragmatic needs to allow access to Google. -db The Digital Daily Feed June 15, 2010 By John Paczkowski Rather than rejecting it outright, China is adapting to Google’s new approach to the country, working toward a balance that keeps access to Google.com.hk (a redirect from [...]

Google’s new Public Data Explorer raises questions about access to public records

With new search avenues,  journalists will have greater ability to search public records, but some public agencies across the country claim ownership rights to the records and are reluctant to make records available and even one state, Oklahoma, has raised millions in revenue from selling data. -db Citizen Media Law Project Analysis April 28, 2010 [...]

Google strikes blow for traditional journalistic values

Google’s decision to leave China rather than to allow censorship of its service, whether it likes it or not,  puts the company in the forefront in defending the free flow of information in the global market. -db The New York Times Commentary March 28, 2010 By David Carr Should we be surprised that the biggest [...]

Internet censorship: China may suffer long-term economic damage from closing down Google

Experts are saying that while China may feel the need to maintain control through censorship, but it may be doing itself great harm by allowing Google to abandon China and weakening the country’s links to the global economy. -db The New York Times March 23, 2010 By Michael Wines BEIJING — This is a nation [...]

Google leaves China over differences on censorship

As expected, Google closed its Internet search service in China and began directing its users to the as yet uncensored service in Hong Kong. -db The New York Times March 22, 2010 By Miguel Helft and David Barboza SAN FRANCISCO — Just over two months after threatening to leave China because of censorship and intrusions [...]

Chinese human rights activists mourn Google’s withdrawal from China

With Google poised to withdraw from China, there is recognition that China has dealt a blow to hopes for its gradual change to a more open and democratic society. db The Washington Post March 20, 2010 By John Pomfret BEIJING — When Google announced that it would pull out of China if it had to [...]

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