First Amendment News

A federal judge threatened sanctions for the Obama administration for withholding a secret document he ordered them to hand over to lawyers suing the government for its warrantless wiretapping. -DB San Francisco Chronicle May 22, 2009 By Paul Elias SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge on Friday threatened to severely sanction the Obama Administration for withholding a top secret document he ordered given to lawyers suing the government over its warrantless wiretapping program. U.S.

Apple has approved the e-book reader Eucalyptus for the iTunes App Store, setting aside earlier objections to the reader’s ability to download the Kama Sutra. -DB Wired May 26, 2009 By Charlie Sorrel Apple has finally approved the gorgeous-looking e-book reader, Eucalyptus, for the iTunes App Store. The application was previously banned for pornographic reasons: not because it contained objectionable material but because it could be used to download the Kama Sutra, an ancient text

A federal judge will hear arguments May 29 on whether Newsday and a local TV station can publish photos of a Nassau County legislator taken while he was under arrest for alleged tax evasion. The man’s attorney claims the photos will hurt his client’s chances for a fair trial. -DB Newsday May 19, 2009 By Celeste Hadrick The attorney for Nassau Legis. Roger Corbin, accused of evading taxes on $226,000 he allegedly received from a

An Electronic Frontier attorney says Apple routinely rejects e-book reader apps on the grounds that they are protecting their users from “bad” apps. They recently excluded Eucalyptus that carries a translation of Kama Sutra that one reviewer considered objectionable. -DB Electronic Frontier Foundation Commentary May 22, 2009 By Fred von Lohmann Eucalyptus is the name of an e-book reader app for the iPhone. It allows you to read public domain books that have been digitized

Active citizens won a reprieve on water district rate hikes claiming the Helix Water Board violated the requirement that the public be given adequate notice of any rate increases. The board voted to cancel a hearing and revise its rate hike proposal to accommodate public concerns about its fairness. -DB East County Magazine May 24, 2009 By Dennis Moore LA MESA, Calif. – Following a joint investigation by East County Magazine and Channel 10 news