EFF Defends Right to Link from Internet Wiki

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: EFF Press <press () eff org>
Date: January 8, 2007 6:20:36 PM EST
To: presslist () eff org
Subject: [E-B] EFF Defends Right to Link from Internet Wiki
Reply-To: press () eff org

Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release

For Immediate Release: Monday, January 08, 2007

Contact:

Fred von Lohmann
   Senior Intellectual Property Attorney
   Electronic Frontier Foundation
   fred () eff org
   +1 415 436-9333 x123 (office), +1 415 215-6087 (cell)

EFF Defends Right to Link from Internet Wiki

Legal Battle Over Controversial Prescription Drug Zyprexa

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
today defended the First Amendment rights of a
citizen-journalist to link from a public "wiki" to
electronic copies of damaging internal Eli Lilly documents
relating to the controversial prescription drug Zyprexa.

At today's hearing, federal district Judge Jack B.
Weinstein refused to change his order blocking publication
of material that would "facilitate dissemination" of the
Lilly documents. A further hearing on the issue is set for
Tuesday, January 16.

EFF's client, an anonymous citizen-journalist, posted the
links on the wiki located at http://zyprexa.pbwiki.com. Eli
Lilly complained, and Judge Weinstein issued his order on
January 4. EFF went to court today to challenge this order
as an unconstitutional prior restraint on free speech in
violation of the First Amendment and to ensure that the
right of nonparties in the litigation to link to publicly
important information remains protected.

"Preventing a citizen-journalist from posting links to
important health information on a public wiki violates the
First Amendment," said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Fred von
Lohmann. "Eli Lilly's efforts to censor these documents off
the Internet are particularly outrageous in light of the
information reported by The New York Times, which suggests
that doctors and patients who use Zyprexa need to know the
information contained in those documents."

According to The New York Times reports, the Eli Lilly
documents show that the company intentionally downplayed
the drug's side effects, including weight gain, high blood
sugar, and diabetes, and marketed the drug for "off-label"
uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA). The documents were leaked from the ongoing Zyprexa
products liability lawsuit, where Weinstein is the
presiding judge.

Copies of the leaked Eli Lilly documents have appeared on a
variety of websites and other Internet sources. The links
to the documents that were posted on the wiki at
http://zyprexa.pbwiki.com were part of extensive, in-depth
analysis from a number of citizen journalists. A wiki is a
website that allows many users to collaborate on its
content, creating a kind of simple database for collecting
information -- in this case, about the controversy
surrounding Zyprexa.

Zyprexa is Eli Lilly's best selling drug, used to treat
schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.  Last week, Eli Lilly
agreed to pay up to $500 million to settle claims relating
to Zyprexa. This latest settlement brings the total paid by
Eli Lilly to resolve lawsuits involving Zyprexa to more
than $1.2 billion.

For the full motion filed in the Zyprexa products liability
litigation:
http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/zyprexa/zyprexa_motion.pdf

For the court's order of January 4:
http://eff.org/legal/cases/zyprexa/jan4_order

For this release:
http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2007_01.php#005058

About EFF

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil
liberties organization working to protect rights in the
digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and
challenges industry and government to support free
expression and privacy online. EFF is a member-supported
organization and maintains one of the most linked-to
websites in the world at http://www.eff.org/


     -end-

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