News & Opinion

A deputy sheriff’s association sued in federal court claiming that the sheriff was illegally campaigning in uniform while violating the deputies’ First Amendment rights to speak out in the sheriff election. A county policy prohibits employees from identifying themselves as connected to the sheriff’s office to “endorse, support, oppose or contradict any political campaign or initiative…social issue, cause of religion.”  (The Salinas Californian, September 12, 2014, by Allison Gatlin) The association claims the sheriff has

Yahoo yielded to a government threat of a $250,000 a day fine in releasing customer information to federal intelligence agencies. This new revelation shows how ruthless the federal government was in pursuing their secret surveillance program noted a spokesperson for the Electronic Privacy Information Center. (Reuters, September 12, 2014, by Edwin Chan and Alexei Oreskovic) The court-sanctioned release of information about the surveillance and demands placed on Yahoo is considered to be a victory for

A federal district judge struck down an Ohio law criminalizing lies in political campaigns. “The answer to false statements in politics is not to force silence (by forbidding lies) but to encourage truthful speech in response, and to let the voters, not the Government, decide what the political truth is,” wrote Judge Timothy Black. The ruling was expected after a June ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that allowed the case to proceed in challenging

A number of companies and civic action groups supported Internet Slowdown Day on September 10 to demonstrate what the Internet would be like without net neutrality. The public comment period for the Federal Communication Commission’s new rules for Internet Service Providers ends on September 15. The rules establish fast and slow lanes for large and small websites provoking dismay among many. (PCWorld, September 10, 2014, by Ian Paul) House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi favors granting

California enacted a law protecting consumers from lawsuits over bad reviews they post online. The law prevents businesses from requiring consumers to waive their right to comment on services. Businesses have been demanding monetary payments for negative reviews posted by customers. (The Washington Post, September 10, 2014, by Niraj Chokshi) The law makes it possible for consumers to post negative reviews on Yelp with impunity. Yelp’s Laurent Crenshaw said the law was a boost for