IP: : SLAPPing Down Anonymous Speech

[David Farber <dfarber () earthlink net>]

I "like" the comment re tired press. It would be a lot more effective if the groups coordinated their poress activ 
ities etc. Ut I have said that for years. 

Dave


-----Original Message-----
From: "Robert J. Berger" <rberger () ultradevices com>
Date: Fri, 12 Jul 2002 13:02:44 
To: Dave Farber IP <dave () farber net>,
   Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
Subject: SLAPPing Down Anonymous Speech

SLAPPing Down Anonymous Speech
http://www.imakenews.com/mediaunspun/index000017663.cfm#a81511

A coalition of public-interest groups is trying to pressure ISPs into
notifying their customers when civil lawsuits seek their identities. A few
outlets covered the campaign: Perhaps after the ACLU's big push earlier in
the week for open access to cable wires, news outlets are tired of public
advocacy stories.

Five groups are behind the initiative: the American Civil Liberties Union,
the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Electronic Frontier Foundation,
the Electronic Privacy Information Center, and Public Citizen. The three
stories Unspun surveyed mentioned only the better-known organizations, not
including Public Citizen, though InternetNews and the Post ran a comment
from that group's director: "You can't fight to protect your privacy and
anonymity when you don't even know that it's being attacked,"

The coalition, which has mounted an informational Web site at
CyberSLAPP.org, wants ISPs to side with their customers -- or at least to
give them a fighting chance -- when a suit is filed that seeks to reveal the
identity of an anonymous online speaker, often simply in order to silence or
intimidate that person. (The site's frequently-asked questions page defines
SLAPP as Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation.)

All three outlets mentioned that EarthLink, Yahoo, and America Online have
policies in place to notify customers of legal filings seeking information
about them. Both CNET and InternetNews add Microsoft to that list, although
Microsoft is not currently mentioned on the CyberSLAPP site. The Washington
Post went into detail on AOL's policies -- the big national ISP gives its
customers 14 days' warning before turning over any such information. In its
model policy sent to hundreds of ISPs, CyberSLAPP.org recommends a waiting
period of 30 days.

Wired reported on a new, hacker-written tool that should make it much harder
for anyone, including courts and lawyers, to find out the online identity of
someone determined to hide it. The tool, to be previewed at a New York
hacker convention today, is named "6/4" after the date of the Tiananmen
Square massacre. - Keith Dawson

Groups Defend Anonymous Online Critics
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56260-2002Jul11.html

Privacy Groups Pan 'cyberSLAPP'ing
http://siliconvalley.internet.com/news/article.php/1383751

ACLU: Don't rat out your customers
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-943160.html

A New Code for Anonymous Web Use
http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,53799,00.html

Anonymity on the Net
http://www.cyberslapp.org/


-- 
Robert J. Berger
UltraDevices, Inc. / Internet Bandwidth Development, LLC
15550 Wildcat Ridge Saratoga, CA 95070
408-882-4755 rberger () ultradevices com / rberger () ibd com

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