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

Recovery Act - Tribal Crime Data Collection, Analysis and Estimation Project

From grants.gov - and I can't help reading this rhetorically. Considering the various data mining and data recovery RFPs I've seen recently, I don't know if this particular one is a good thing or a bad thing:

"On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed into law the landmark American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the “Recovery Act”). As one of its many elements, the Recovery Act provides the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) with funding for grants to assist state, local, and tribal law enforcement (including support for hiring), to combat violence against women, to fight internet crimes against children, to improve the functioning of the criminal justice system, to assist victims of crime, and to support youth mentoring. DOJ is committed to working with our national, state, local, and tribal partnerships to ensure this funding invests in the American workforce."

http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&flag2006=false&oppId=46159

U.K. to monitor, store all social-network traffic?

"The U.K. government is considering the mass surveillance and retention of all user communications on social-networking sites, including Facebook, MySpace, and Bebo."

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10199107-83.html

Colorado Man Charged With Criminal Libel For Comments on Craigslist

From the Citizen Media Law Project blog:

The Loveland Connection is reporting that a Colorado man has been charged with two counts of criminal libel after allegedly posting comments about a former girlfriend and her lawyer on Craigslist.com's "Rants and Raves" section:

The case in Loveland began when a woman approached the Loveland Police Department in December 2007 about multiple postings made about her between November and December 2007. At least one post suggests that she traded sexual acts for legal services from her attorney, according to court records. There's also mention about a child services visit made because of an injury found on her child.

Police obtained search warrants for records from Craigslist.com and other Web sites and identified J.P. Weichel as the suspect, the former boyfriend of the woman, who shares a child with her. In August, detectives confronted Weichel at his workplace, where police said he admitted to the postings because he was "just venting," according to the court file.

The full story and a link to The Loveland Connection is located here: http://www.citmedialaw.org/blog/2008/colorado-man-charged-criminal-libel-comments-craigslist

Understanding Your Legal Risks When You Blog or Publish Online

David Ardia of the Citizen's Media Law Project is going to be posting about the legal risks involved in publishing online. He's started out this posting series with an overview of the various legal risks that arise when writing in digital environments such as defamation, or unreasonably invading or exposing another's private matters. I recommend reading through these posts as they are published for anyone who writes blogs or webpages, or participates in social network sites.

http://www.citmedialaw.org/blog/2008/understanding-your-legal-risks-when-you-blog-or-publish-online

Ardia's posts are going to cover the material in the Citizen Media Legal Guide.

http://www.citmedialaw.org/legal-guide