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Category Archives: Speech

Issues of free speech outside the First Amendment

“Astonishing” Criminal Liability for YouTube Video

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

In another European case I’ve blogged about before (here, here, and here), yesterday an Italian court convicted three Google executives of criminal privacy violations in a case arising out of a 2006 YouTube video of the bullying of an autistic boy, posted to YouTube by his abusers.  The court imposed suspended three- to six-month sentences on [...]

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Playing the China Card

Monday, February 8, 2010

In a speech a few weeks ago Hillary Clinton criticized China and other nations for their Internet censorship, warning that what she called an “information curtain” might prevent the citizens of such countries from the free flow of information.  Her speech came shortly after Google reported it was the victim of computer hacking that it [...]

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Judicial Restraint

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Yesterday the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court reversed Matt Zubiel’s conviction of attempting to disseminate matter harmful to a minor, ruling that M.G.L. c. 272, § 31’s definition of matter “does not encompass electronically transmitted text, or ‘online conversations.’”  Zubiel, age 25, engaged in instant messaging with “Melissa QT1995,” who he believed to be a 13-year [...]

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The Scope of NYT v Sullivan

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Slate–the online magazine, not the trendy New York Manhattan dry-cleaning company started by a former student–ran an article by Dahlia Lithwick about Justice Scalia’s statement that he would vote to reverse New York Times v Sullivan if given the chance. This 1964 Supreme Court decision imposed the requirement that public officials who sue for [...]

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Newsworthiness and Privacy

Saturday, January 30, 2010

I’m having great fun doing a directed study this semester on privacy law.  Today the student emailed, saying she was torn between two deeply-held principles:  the First Amendment protects our right to receive all the information we need to make informed choices, without screening or censoring, and our natural right to privacy and human dignity [...]

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AutoAdmit Suit Settled

Sunday, November 1, 2009

The suit by two (now former) Yale Law Students against AutoAdmit for harassing and threatening messages recently settled, quietly ending a controversy that began in a characteristically over-the-top anonymous Internet message board.  The suit, filed in 2007, gathered considerable attention because of the offensiveness of the comments, the battle over unmasking anonymous posters, and the [...]

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Green Dam

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Despite domestic and international opposition (e.g. “China Faces Criticism Over New Software Censor“) China is proceeding with its requirement that the Green Dam Youth Escort content-filtering software be installed on, or included on a compact disc accompanying the purchase of, all new computers sold in the country as of July 1.  The name “Green Dam [...]

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