Re: 12 Important U.S. Laws Every Blogger Needs to Know

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: John Morris <jmorris () cdt org>
Date: May 4, 2007 10:16:53 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: [IP] Re: 12 Important U.S. Laws Every Blogger Needs to Know

Dave,

For IP if you wish....

At 7:54 PM -0400 5/4/07, David Farber wrote:
> From: "Michael Froomkin - U.Miami School of Law"  
> <froomkin () law miami edu>
> Date: May 4, 2007 6:01:13 PM EDT
> To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
> Subject: Re: [IP] 12 Important U.S. Laws Every Blogger Needs to Know
> <snip>
> While being over-cautious will certainly keep you out of trouble,  
> there's over-cautious and waaay over-cautious.
>
> Most of these rules could be summarized as "Don't lie.  And be very  
> honest and transparent."  Which is good advice, but could be said  
> more simply.
<snip>

On quick review I agree with Michael's comments and concerns about  
the list, and would go farther to say that some of the advice given  
is so overly cautious that is crosses the line to being bad advice.  
Rule 7(3) for example would (if followed by all) largely destroy  
anonymity on the Internet.  Anonymity is legal and constitutionally  
protected, and there are certainly many discussion fora where  
anonymity is quite appropriate (such as, for instance, a teen-focused  
safe sex discussion group).

Similarly, Rule 8(2) recommends that a site turn over all user  
personal information "to requesting authorities" -- which sure sounds  
like a suggestion that the site turn over info even if the  
"authorities" do not in fact have a court order or other legal  
authority to obtain the information.  Certainly some sites may choose  
to follow the 8(2) recommendation, but I bet that the great majority  
of Internet users believe that governments should follow the law,  
including laws governing government access to information.

Finally, as a 13th or 14th item, I would suggest that if a blog  
engages in extensive political speech or receives money (for ads or  
coverage, etc.) from a campaign, the blogger should be aware of the  
applicable Federal Election Commission rules.  For the most part,  
bloggers and individual speakers on the Internet are exempt from the  
rules, but a site operator should be generally aware of the rules  
nevertheless.  See http://www.netdemocracyguide.org/ for a detailed  
discussion of the rules.

John Morris

----------------------------------------
John B. Morris, Jr.
Staff Counsel
Director, Internet Standards, Technology
   & Policy Project
Center for Democracy and Technology
1634 I Street NW, Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20006
(202) 637-9800
(202) 637-0968 fax
jmorris () cdt org
http://www.cdt.org
----------------------------------------


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