First Amendment News

Senate rejects proposal for commission of inquiry on torture

Senator Patrick Leahy was unable to obtain the bipartisan consensus he said was essential to conduct a senate investigation of Bush administration conduct on terrorism including detention, rendition and interrogation. -DB Secrecy News Federation of American Scientists Commentary January 26, 2010 By Steven Aftergood Last year the Senate Judiciary Committee considered a proposal by Senator Patrick Leahy to establish a formal “commission of inquiry” that would investigate the conduct of the post-9/11 war on terrorism,

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Call for private industry to join U.S. government to promote Internet Freedom

EFF International Outreach Coordinator Danny O’Brien says Hillary Clinton’s speech on Internet Freedom was encouraging but that both governments and global companies have to redouble their efforts to establish world-wide standards for privacy and free expression. -DB Electronic Frontier Foundation Commentary January 25, 2010 By Danny O-Brien Secretary Clinton’s speech last week on Internet Freedom was an important step in bringing online free expression and privacy to the forefront of the United States’ foreign policy

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State appeals court reverses conviction for Internet threat

In dismissing a conviction of a former college student for online threats to kill children, the Fourth District Court of Appeal agreed with the defense that the threat was not directed at any individual and that the offense did not correspond to the defendant’s actual conduct. -DB Metropolitan News-Enterprise January 26, 2010 By Steven M. Ellis The Fourth District Court of Appeal yesterday reversed the conviction of a former Mt. San Jacinto Community College student

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Blogger charges that U.S. government enabled Chinese hackers in Google case

National security technology blogger Bruce Schneier wrote recently that as part of their domestic spying campaign, the United States required internet providers to set up avenues for government surveillance used recently by some parties in China to breach the privacy of Google customers. -DB Citizen Media Law Project Opinion January 26, 2010 By Arthur Bright If you’re a regular user of the Webtubes—and if you’re reading this blog, you probably are—you’re well aware of the

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Supreme Court to decide if petition-signers can remain anonymous

The United States has a long tradition of allowing anonymous speech in the political arena, but there are also serious concerns about transparency and accountability. The Supreme Court must decide whether Washington state officials can release names on a petition seeking a referendum on repealing the state’s domestic-partnership rights. -DB First Amendment Center Commentary January 24, 2010 By Gene Policinski “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would

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