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donal brown

Espionage Act challenged by defense in trial of former CIA officer

donal brown February 28, 2011

Secrecy News’ Steven Aftergood says the federal government has once again seen how awkward it is to use the Espionage Act to indict its employees, in this case Jeffrey A. Sterling, a former CIA officer, for allegedly disclosing classified information to the press. Aftergood says, “An initial difficulty for the prosecution is that the espionage statute cited against Mr. Sterling (18 USC 793) concerns the protection of ‘national defense information.’ It does not mention ‘classified

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Media Bloggers Association criticizes Righthaven in amicus brief

donal brown February 28, 2011

The Media Bloggers Association has asked a federal judge in Nevada to award only minimal damages and no lawyer’s fees to Righthaven who is suing a blogger for violating copyright in publishing an article from the Las Vegas Review-Journal on his website. The lawyers for the bloggers argued in the brief that the damages asked, $150,000, and $1,850 in lawyer’s fees were excessive in light of nature of the alleged infringement. -db From a commentary

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High school student suspended for critical Facebook posting

donal brown February 28, 2011

A Mississippi high school senior is suing his school administration in federal court for suspending him for a rap song he wrote off campus in his free time and posted on Facebook. The song criticized two coaches he observed who allegedly flirted with female students and contacted intimate  body parts of the students. The senior was sentenced to seven days of suspension and five weeks of alternate school. -db From Courthouse News Service, February 28,

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Opinion: Pentagon stonewalls secrecy reform

donal brown February 28, 2011

The Defense Department is out of step with the Obama administration’s efforts to modernize the national security classification system to prevent excessive classification writes Steven Aftergood in Secrecy News. Aftergood notes that Defense has failed to update regulations on information security in spite of a Presidential directive. -db From a commentary in Secrecy News, February 24th, 2011 by Steven Aftergood. Full Story

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Maine: Anti-gay marriage group must reveal donors

donal brown February 28, 2011

A federal district judge has ordered the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) to disclose its contributors in the wake of its $1.09 million campaign to revoke gay-marriage rights in Maine. NOM argued that its free speech rights would be violated by revealing its backers. The judge said that state law required the disclosure and served a “compelling” and “critical” interest in providing the information to the voters. -db From Courthouse News Service, February 25, 2011,

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