Communications Decency Act Issues Raised in Recent Facebook Suit

Facebook is being sued for content it has posted according to an article in PC Mag.com.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2353659,00.asp

A comprehensive discussion of issues around the Communications Decency Act of 1996, Section 230, is located here:

http://www.cdt.org/publications/policyposts/2008/4

An excerpt from this article by the Center for Democracy & Technology states:

"The four amicus briefs [filed by the CDT] essentially all argue for the same thing: a continued reading of §230 in the spirit that Congress intended and that a multitude of courts have so far followed. Any departure would otherwise stifle the provision's purpose and undermine industry strides towards responsible self-regulation. In those briefs, CDT argues that "intermediaries" - ISPs, websites, and online service providers that enable other people - Internet users - to post content onto the Internet should not be held liable for the content posted. To hold intermediaries liable would greatly chill their willingness to host online content created by others. To use a simple example, if the YouTube.com video sharing website had to be legally responsible for the content of the tens or hundreds of thousands of new videos posted to it each day, the site could not possibly continue to operate as an open forum for users' video expression."

The Citizens Media Law Project also provides a comprehensive overview:

http://www.citmedialaw.org/section-230

And, another excellent discussion on David Johnson's blog

http://www.digitalmedialawyerblog.com/2009/09/lessons_from_batzel_v_smith_no.html

Lessig receives take down notice from Warner Music

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/04/lessig-presentation-on-youtube-hit-with-dmca-takedown-notice.ars

Quote: "Obama Administration Lock(e)s And Loads Against Movie Piracy"

http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2009/04/22/obama-administration-lockes-and-loads-against-movie-piracy/

From the Intellectual Property Watch:By Liza Porteus Viana for Intellectual Property Watch @ 12:41 am

[being quote]WASHINGTON, DC - The Obama administration will fight for the movie industry and work to aggressively enforce its intellectual property protections both at home and abroad, United States Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said here Tuesday.

Locke offered almost unabashed support for the industry, which, according to a report released Tuesday [pdf] by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), created 2.5 million American jobs in 2007, paid an average production worker US$74,700 a year in salary, paid out $41.1 billion in salaries to American workers, paid $13 billion in income and sales tax and was responsible for $13.6 billion in trade surplus.[end quote]

I am really concerned about the one-sidedness of Locke's perspective. Where are the voices of the NCTE lobbyists? Do they even know what is at stake here?

Antidumping Activity

Antidumping, not what you think.

What do circular welded carbon steel pipes and tube from Taiwan, hot-rolled carbon steel flat products from India, and wooden bedroom furniture from China all have in common? They were this week subject to antidumping evaluation by the US Department of Commerce, along with Vietnam frozen fish fillets (catfish) and honey from Argentina.

According to wikipedia, "dumping" can refer to any kind of predatory pricing. "However, the word is now generally used only in the context of international trade law, where dumping is defined as the act of a manufacturer in one country exporting a product to another country at a price which is either below the price it charges in its home market or is below its costs of production. The term has a negative connotation, but advocates of free markets see "dumping" as beneficial for consumers and believe that protectionism to prevent it would have net negative consequences. Advocates for workers and laborers however, believe that safeguarding businesses against predatory practices, such as dumping, help alleviate some of the harsher consequences of free trade between economies at different stages of development (see protectionism)."

Wikipedia goes on to state:

"A standard technical definition of dumping is the act of charging a lower price for a good in a foreign market than one charges for the same good in a domestic market. This is often referred to as selling at less than 'fair value.' Under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement, dumping is condemned (but is not prohibited) if it causes or threatens to cause material injury to a domestic industry in the importing country."

Anyway, in the federal register, which I read somewhere is like the newspaper for the US government, they have been listing the results of several administrative reviews this week on the items aforementioned. Basically it appears that the purpose of these adminstrative evaluations is to determine tariff amounts, or assessments on producers of the iterms that could be "dumped" into the US economy.

Berkman Center Provides Info on How To Blog Anonymously

While I don't encourage anonymity in digital writing because I'm strongly in favor of accountability, in some places you cannot say what you think about political events because if you do you could go to jail or even worse. So, for those who feel the need to blog anonymously, the Berkman Center has some advice.

http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/idblog/2009/03/25/how-to-blog-anonymously/

Amicus Curiae

and, an excellent example of an Amicus Curiae Brief: http://www.citmedialaw.org/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2009-03-24-Amicus%20Curiae%20Brief.pdf

--the brief contains an *excellent* review of literature, I mean case law, that illustrates first amendment rights in the U.S..

Citizen Media Law Project and Cyberlaw Clinic Lead Amicus Effort Promoting Rights of Anonymous Online Speakers in Illinois

"Cambridge, MA - March 25, 2009 - In a case involving important First Amendment rights, the Citizen Media Law Project ("CMLP") joined a number of media and advocacy organizations, including Gannett Co., Inc., Hearst Corporation, Illinois Press Association, Online News Association, Public Citizen, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and Tribune Company, in asking an Illinois appellate court to protect the rights of anonymous speakers online by imposing procedural safeguards before requiring that their identities be disclosed."

http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/newsroom/CMLP_Maxon-v-Ottawa

YouTube Says China Blocks Site

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123791575627627223.html

From the Wall Street Journal:

According to writers Jessica Vascellaro and Geoffrey Fowler, "Access to GoogleInc.'s YouTube service was blocked by Chinese authorities, as the video-sharing site continues to wrestle with governments offended by some of its content."