First Amendment News

California case: Middle way may create burdens for those trying to unmask anonymous commenters

The Assistant Director of the Citizen Media Law Project writes that it’s difficult to decide whether a judge’s creative solution in a case involving anonymous commenters is praiseworthy and likens the ruling to Solomon’s “splitting the baby.” -DB Citizen Media Law Project Analysis September 16, 2009 By Sam Bayard It’s amazing how many times you can hear a phrase without really understanding it. Take “splitting the baby” for instance. Excuse my ignorance, but I’d always

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Federal court orders Guantanamo hearing closed to public

The U.S. Court of Appeals decided they don’t want the public to hear the oral arguments in a Guantanamo detainee case crucial to determining if habeus corpus applies to those held in detention as “enemy combatants.” -DB The Blog of Legal Times September 15, 2009 By Mike Scarcella Everybody out: a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled unanimously this week to close oral argument to the public in a

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Obama asks for renewal of Patriot Act provisions sanctioning secret domestic spying

The Obama administration has notified Congress that it backs renewing provisions of the Patriot Act which expires at the end of the year. The provisions include a secret court for granting wiretaps and warrants for records – banking, library and medical. -DB Wired September 15, 2009 By David Kravets The Obama administration has told Congress it supports renewing three provisions of the Patriot Act due to expire at year’s end, measures making it easier for the

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Google’s Fast Flip attempts to make reading news faster for public and more profitable for news outlets

Google is creating a news hub that allows viewers to read dozens of news articles quickly. They plan to share revenues with news providers from the ads that surround the articles. -DB The New York Times September 15, 2009 By Miguel Helft SAN FRANCISCO — Google, long seen as an enemy by many in the news industry, is making a bold attempt to be seen as a friend with a new service it hopes will make

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Iran gains edge in diet wars as blogger loses weight in jail

According to the Iranian government, a leading cleric-blogger has attained self-improvement by slimming down in prison. Says CMLP blogger Andrew Moshirnia, this success may cause a stampede in the U.S. to emulate Iranian weight-loss practices. -DB Citizen Media Law Project Commentary September 15, 2009 By Andrew Moshirnia A little while back, I wrote about the Iranian persecution of bloggers and opponents of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. There is so much evidence of this systematic assault on liberty

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