Welcome to the Free Speech Coalition
Grok Headline matches for Welcome to the Free Speech Coalition
Coalition forces free hostages in Iraq
Coalition forces free hostages in Iraq
06/08/2004 12:36 PMCoalition Forces Free Hostages in Iraq
(AP)
Coalition Forces Free Hostages in Iraq
(AP)
06/08/2004 12:08 PMAP - U.S. special forces freed three Italian and a Polish hostages
Tuesday south of Baghdad, the top U.S. general said, in the first
successful commando raid to rescue foreigners caught up in Iraq's wave
of kidnappings.
Free Speech
Free Speech
07/04/2004 08:54 AMChicago Tribune Jul 4 2004 12:13PM GMT
It's Not About Free Speech
It's Not About Free Speech
03/22/2005 04:24 PM So, about all this lawsuit stuff about revealing sources: it's not
about bloggers being journalists. You're a fool if you're looking at
it from that angle. They're suing to learn which person they trusted
broke that trust; which person signed a contract and broke the terms
of that contract.
In short, they're not terrorizing the bloggers, they're going after
their own employees and/or developers to show that the NDA has teeth. As such, don't expect negative
press to shut it down. They're going to keep going because the future
of the NDA is at stake, not the future of
blogging. I believe that Apple honestly couldn't give a rat's ass
about that. You can bring free speech and journalism and sources and
all that shit into this all you want, but in the end, Apple is
protecting its right to hold people to contracts they sign. Don't
expect this to go away any time soon, and especially not from public
opinion.
If you sign a piece of paper, you better damn well read what you
signed. That's all this comes down to. No need to lament the "death"
of free speech (which was intended to mean you can't get arrested for
speaking your mind, not revealing corporate secrets that you promised,
in a contract, that you wouldn't, or conspiring with that person to
reveal them); free speech isn't dead. You can lambast the government
all you want, or be the whistle-blower at a corporation all you need.
What's at stake here is Joe Blow saying he won't say a word and then
telling the world everything he heard.
So much for free speech in the US II
So much for free speech in the US II
10/29/2003 12:09 AMI can't help but wonder what goes on in the heads of the airlines
staff throwing off people because of buttons. No matter the text...
Suppressing Free Speech
Suppressing Free Speech
03/29/2005 06:02 PM
Suppressing
Free Speech On "...Monday, March 28, the Secret Service called
three everyday people into their offices to discuss why we were kicked
out of a presidential event in Denver last week where Bush promoted
his plan to privatize Social Security. What they revealed to us and
our lawyer was fascinating.
There we were - three people who had personally picked up tickets
from Republican
Congressman Bob
Beauprez's office and went to a presidential event. But as we
entered, we were told that we had been 'ID'ed' and were warned that
any disruption would get us arrested. After being seated in the
audience we were forcibly removed before the President arrived, even
though we had not been disruptive. We were shocked when told that this
presidential event was a "private event" and were commanded to
leave....The Secret Service revealed that we were 'ID'ed' when local
Republican staffers saw a bumper sticker on the car we drove which
said 'No More Blood For Oil.'" Related
Associated Press story.
Free Speech -- Virtually
Free Speech -- Virtually
12/19/2002 05:39 PMLate last year, John Stanforth posted to his personal Web site a
reminiscence about software he had developed for internal...
Free speech: Do Americans really believe
in it?
Free speech: Do Americans really believe
in it?
07/04/2004 03:31 PMChicago Tribune Jul 4 2004 6:08PM GMT
Speech isn't free if it's critical.
Speech isn't free if it's critical.
05/20/2004 10:17 AM
Poetry isn't free speech for these
students. Bill Nevins, a New Mexico high school teacher was fired
last year and classes in poetry and the poetry club at Rio Rancho High
School were permanently terminated because he refused to censor a
student's poetry that was "un-American."
The Future of Free Speech
The Future of Free Speech
09/14/2004 01:54 AM
Cass
Sunstein's
The Future of
Free Speech"I seek to defend a particular
conception of democracy — a deliberative conception — and to
evaluate, in its terms, the outcome of a system with perfect power of
filtering." Fair use = free speech
Fair use = free speech
07/11/2004 03:35 PMLessig points out a documentary on Fox News, one that makes extensive
use of clips from Fox, without permission, to make its point, and what
this means:
As the Times article describes, Greenwald's style for distributing
documentaries may be the beginning of something new -- political
criticism, using interviews and clips, making a strong political
point, distributed through DVDs and political action groups. (See some
other examples here). On what theory does he, and others, have the
right to use such material without permission? On the free culture
theory we call the First Amendment: Copyright law must, the Court told
us in Eldred, embed "fair use"; "fair use" is informed by First
Amendment values; the values of the First Amendment most relevant here
are those expressed in New York Times v. Sullivan. As with
news-gathering, critical political filmmaking needs a buffer zone of
protection against the overreaching of the law. And if the potential
of this medium -- now liberated by digital technology -- is to be
realized, we need clear precedents that establish that critics have
the freedom to criticize without having to hire a lawyer first.
Link
(
Thanks, Larry!)
Free Speech in Action
Free Speech in Action
06/23/2004 05:19 PM
Take the President to the
movies. Because how can you speak intelligently about a film if
you haven't watched it?
free speech gagged--thanks to the
Patriot Act
free speech gagged--thanks to the
Patriot Act
05/30/2004 11:21 PM
National Security Letters and John Doe --once only issued
against suspected terrorists and spies, NSLs now can be used, thanks
to the Patriot Act, against all and any of us. John Doe, the currently
gagged owner of a small ISP was targeted for the political speech of
his customers and is fighting, along with the ACLU and others.
More here (and more inside)
High schoolers on free speech
High schoolers on free speech
02/01/2005 08:38 PMDavid Pescovitz:
A new study reveals that far too many US high school students don't
seem to understand the meaning of free speech, aren't taught about the
First Amendment, or simply don't care. A few choice excerpts from the
AP story:
...When told of the exact text of the First Amendment,
more than one in three high school students said it goes "too far" in
the rights it guarantees. Only half of the students said newspapers
should be allowed to publish freely without government approval of
stories...
Three in four students said flag burning is illegal...
About half the students said the government can restrict any indecent
material on the Internet.
Who is teaching these kids?
Link
UPDATE: Fortunately at least some students
aren't being
entirely short-changed by their schools, as this
email from BB reader Maxx Garrison points out:
"I am a junior (11th grade) at Cocalico High School. Our
school has a mandatory course named Principals of Democracy. In this
class, we are taught everything about the Constitution including an in
depth study of the Bill of Rights. The students must also write a
essay about a section of the bill of rights and also conduct a formal
debate against fellow classmates. On this essay we must use at least
34 sources and my paper turned out to be 16 pages on the second
amendment right to bear arms. So, just to clarify, some of us do know
a thing or two about the constitution. Also, as students, we do not
have the right to free speech, protection from unreasonable search or
seizure, or freedom of assembly."
UPDATE: As reader Steve Jones points out, the
common "principals" vs. "principles" spelling error in Maxx's email is
particularly ironic in this case.
UPDATE: Blogger
Britta Gustafson says:
Students do have the right to free speech, protection from
unreasonable search or seizure, and freedom of assembly. The rights
are more restricted than those of adults, but we have them. The extent
depends on your state and school district.
I'm in 12th grade at a high school in the horrible Los Angeles Unified
School District. My friends and I started an underground newspaper
because the principal insisted on prior review if we did an official
one. She can't stop us from publishing and distributing our paper as
long as it is not disruptive, libelous, or obscene. We can only be
searched randomly or if there is reasonable suspicion. We are free to
assemble on and off campus as long as it is not disruptive.
The problem is that students don't have the resources to protect their
rights. We get suspended if we don't wear the school uniform -- even
though mandatory uniforms are illegal -- and we can't do much about
it. The District bureaucrats don't care and legal action is out of
reach for most of us.
But we write about it. High school journalism is still alive -- and
the best way for us to learn what our 1st Amendment rights really
mean.
Is A Ban On Gambling Ads A Violation Of
Free Speech?
Is A Ban On Gambling Ads A Violation Of
Free Speech?
08/17/2004 03:50 AMEarlier this year, we noted that the Justice Department was telling
websites they might be
"aiding
and abetting" illegal activity by running ads for online gambling
operations, even if those operations were perfectly legal and run
outside of the US. Now, the operator of a casino news website, Casino
City, has filed a a lawsuit to have it declared that
running such ads is protected free speech, and that
the government can't tell them to stop. Of course, there are some
precedents, such as bans on liquor and tobacco advertising, but it
doesn't appear that any specific law has been put in place banning
gambling ads. Still, all of this makes you wonder if the Department
of Justice doesn't have slightly more important things to be worrying
about than if a casino news site has ads from online casinos.
Diversity! Tolerance! Free speech!
Diversity! Tolerance! Free speech!
09/17/2004 12:30 PM
Score one for tolerance and diversity.
Three-year-old Sophia Parlock cries while seated on the shoulders of
her father, Phil Parlock, after having their Bush-Cheney sign torn up
by Kerry-Edwards supporters on Thursday, Sept. 16, 2004, at the
Tri-State Airport in Huntington, W.Va. Do the smirking people in this
photo really feel proud for terrorizing a three-year-old girl?
StopFCC.Com - The campaign for free
speech.
StopFCC.Com - The campaign for free
speech.
05/03/2004 03:57 AMStop FCC - Free Speech Campaign Petition First Amendment Rights ..
Here's how you can help do something about it .. Props to the 1st
amendment .. sign the petition .. StopFCC.org
stopfcc.com
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Should universities permit free speech?
Should universities permit free speech?
01/07/2004 04:25 PMThe October 10, 2003 issue of MIT's student newspaper, the Tech, carried some
articles about a group of unfortunate students who decided to hold
a ghetto/rap-themed party in their dorm. The invitation email
started "Callin all you playas, pimps, hos, gangstas, and
bitches...". Various campus functionaries indicated their
displeasure at what they viewed as an assault on the sacred principle
of diversity. The students immediately issued a craven apology to
the community but nonetheless Chuck Vest, the president of MIT,
responded by noting that his administration would "deal swiftly and
fairly with those responsible for the event."
Today's issue of the Tech carries some more invective from the
administration directed as these allegedly racist students.
There was no actual evidence of racism by the students holding the
party and in fact the only people involved in this dispute who are
known to judge others by the color of their skin are the MIT
administrators themselves.
A very similar situation occurred in the 1990s at University of
California Riverside. A fraternity held a "South of the Border"
party advertised with a poster featuring a sleeping Mexican,
complete with sombrero and tequila bottle.The frat boys were harshly
disciplined until a lawyer sued the school, pointing out that
(a) half of the fraternity brothers were Mexican-American, and
(b) the First Amendment prohibited a state institution
from editing the fraternity's party posters. A federal
judge sided with the students.
So many university administrations have tried to muzzle their
students that an entire non-profit organization, http://www.thefire.org, exists to
fight back.
Perhaps, however, the university bureaucrats are doing the right
thing after all. The U.S. Constitution guarantees that the
government won't interfere with your right to free
speech. Private employers, however, are free to say "You will
continue to receive a paycheck so long as you stay in your cubicle
with your head down and your mouth shut." Only a tiny fraction
of Americans have a practical right to free speech and these are
primarily the very rich and the very poor. A primary mission of
a college is to prepare young people for the real world. Does it
really make sense to delude kids into thinking that they can say
whatever they want and still have a paycheck and health
insurance? Perhaps it would be better for a university president
to address the incoming freshmen thusly... "This is my plantation and
if you want to stay here for four years you'll learn to say 'Yes,
Massah'".
Free Writing and Music - as in Speech
Free Writing and Music - as in Speech
01/11/2004 02:42 AMI'd like you all to take a moment to browse the Common Content
catalog. It is a categorized index of work which has one of the
several Creative Commons licenses. Free licenses aren't just for
software anymore. The top-level categories in the index are images,
movies, audio, text and web sites. I'm taking the trouble to
recommend Common Content just now because I don't think either the
catalog or the Creative Commons licenses are as well known as they
deserve to be.
Nikken opposed to free speech
Nikken opposed to free speech
01/27/2004 12:37 PMJarle Dahl Bergersen recently received a Cease and Decist letter from
the Nikken bullies for alleged copyright infringement. Nikken
writes:...
Testing Free Speech In America
Testing Free Speech In America
01/02/2005 01:56 PMArabic Media Internet Network Jan 2 2005 4:29PM GMT
Free Speech Takes Its Lumps
Free Speech Takes Its Lumps
07/26/2004 04:17 PMTim Rutten (LA Times; reg req): Free speech under fire all around the nation. At some
point over the last decade the words "I think you're wrong about that"
were replaced by the dismissive "you can't say that." The opponents of
free speech always have a higher value that must be maintained by
silencing somebody else — patriotism for the Las Vegas louts; a
woman's right to sexual privacy in Colorado; a distaste for
politicized airwaves in Washington. But this isn't a discussion that
admits a distinction between regrettable means and a desirable end.
Speech is free for everyone or it's free for no one. There is a long
and painful history to teach us that when liberty of expression is
suppressed, the public square does not become a silent place but one
where the only sound is the voice of authority.
Free Speech Behind the Razor Wire
Free Speech Behind the Razor Wire
07/27/2004 06:16 AMA so-called free-speech zone has been set up to contain protesters at
this week's Democratic National Convention. But it's ringed with chain
link and barbed wire, and it looks a lot like a gulag. Mark Baard
reports from Boston.
sad state of free speech in Canada
sad state of free speech in Canada
12/03/2003 06:22 AMBernstein: "You Can't Say That" .. their PC-speech-code laws .. David
E. Bernstein writes ..
NRO
nationalreview.com/comment/bernstein200312020910.asp
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Free speech, bad taste and the Pope.
Free speech, bad taste and the Pope.
03/17/2005 03:20 AM
"The 52
funniest things about the upcoming death of the Pope," by New York Press columnist Matt Taibbi, generated
controversy that spread from conservative blogs outward. The Press was
de
nounced by legislators, one of whom suggested New Yorkers throw
the paper away; it was slammed by
gossip columnist Lloyd Grove, possibly in retaliation for
Grove's being named
No.
20 on this list. After refusing a suspension, Press editor Jeff
Koyen
resigned and bashed his bosses,
calling one a "
spineless alt-weekly weenie." The public
back-and-forth between erstwhile editor and former boss
continues, but
Taibbi's
response
to the whole thing is probably the best after the fact summary.
Clear Channel's Cowardice on Free Speech
Clear Channel's Cowardice on Free Speech
06/09/2004 01:57 PMJeff Jarvis: Clea
r Quisling. For now that they have knuckled under to the FCC,
there's no telling what's next.
Free-Speech for Online Gambling Ads
Sought
Free-Speech for Online Gambling Ads
Sought
08/16/2004 11:55 PMBiz.yahoo.com - Mon Aug 16, 07:51 pm GMT
Nude Barbie Photos Are Free Speech
Nude Barbie Photos Are Free Speech
01/01/2004 03:22 AMstory.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=757&e=2&u=/nm/200
31230/od_nm/barbie_dc
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Internet free speech laws, Chapter
Whatever
Internet free speech laws, Chapter
Whatever
08/29/2004 07:12 AMSiliconValley.com Aug 29 2004 10:35AM GMT
Online gambling ads: free speech or
illegal?
Online gambling ads: free speech or
illegal?
08/17/2004 10:54 PMChron.com - Tue Aug 17, 04:25 pm GMT
"So much for Free Speech and First
Amendment Rights in Boston!"
"So much for Free Speech and First
Amendment Rights in Boston!"
07/25/2004 02:34 AMWe said the free speech zone was over
there, liberal scum
We said the free speech zone was over
there, liberal scum
06/17/2004 10:14 AM
Weapons
that can incapacitate crowds of people by sweeping a
lightning-like beam of electricity across them are being readied for
sale to military and police forces in the US and Europe. From guns
that shoot streams of conductive fibers to plasma that will stop a
truck, the military and the police are getting
whole
new ways to deal with protestors.
Yahoo's free-speech appeal gets hearing
Yahoo's free-speech appeal gets hearing
03/24/2005 01:51 PM Yahoo is set to go before a U.S. appeals court in a case to
determine whether a foreign court can censor speech that originated in
the United States.
Yahoo, which is
presenting the case
Thursday to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, has asked
the court to find that orders issued in a French court are
unenforceable and that the defendants cannot collect their
multimillion-dollar claims. Nearly five years ago, antihate groups in
France sued Yahoo over Nazi paraphernalia posted for auction on its
U.S. Web site. A French court ordered Yahoo to block all sales or
display of such items that could be seen by citizens of France, based
on that country's laws prohibiting racism.
News source:
C|Net
News.comRead full story...Web porn law violates free speech: U.S.
court
Web porn law violates free speech: U.S.
court
06/29/2004 07:10 PMCTV.ca Jun 29 2004 11:11PM GMT
Free-Speech Protection Sought for
Internet Casino Ads
Free-Speech Protection Sought for
Internet Casino Ads
08/17/2004 09:11 PMRed Nova Aug 18 2004 1:33AM GMT
Yahoo seeks legal ruling on free speech
Yahoo seeks legal ruling on free speech
03/25/2005 04:56 PMHouston Chronicle Mar 25 2005 9:34PM GMT
Online Games Having Trouble With The
Whole Free Speech Concept
Online Games Having Trouble With The
Whole Free Speech Concept
12/12/2003 08:51 PMI'm beginning to wonder if the various creators of online community
games really thought through all of the issues they were raising in
setting up the games. They were, in some sense, creating a new space,
where they were acting as the government. In most cases, they have
terms of service - but that's not quite the same as a constitution.
So, now, when real-life problems move across the virtual/real boarder,
they're struggling. We've discussed this before, and looked at how
some
are trying to answer the question, but Salon has an interesting
article looking at the latest happenings in the Sims Online. One
member has been acting as a sort of National Enquirer of the online
world and posting articles to a blog. He focuses on the "bad" people
in the world - the scammers and other questionable characters. There
are some interesting legal issues raised by the people he talks to -
such as the underage boy who plays a female character in the game and
is engaged in virtual prostitution for in-game money, which can be
sold for real cash on eBay. Is that really prostitution? There's
also the
"Sims
Shadow Government" that we've discussed before to try to deal with
these situations in the game. It appears that they felt the real
government (that is, the company that puts the Sims Online) is absent
and so they're there to fill the void. In the meantime, the folks at
EA, who run the Sims Online, don't appear to have given this much
thought. Instead of dealing with these issues, they've
kicked the reporter out and closed down his
account, saying he violated their policies. In other words, they
seem to be going with something of a despot government that will exile
and censor whoever raises any threatening questions. That's their
choice, of course, as it is their world. However, it probably won't
get them the best reputation as a virtual place to live. How many
people do you know who are actively immigrating into countries run by
dictators?
Supreme court rules web porn is free
speech
Supreme court rules web porn is free
speech
06/29/2004 12:00 PMToday, America's highest court ruled that a law intended to punish
child pornographers is an unconstitutional restriction for online free
speech.
The high court divided 5-to-4 over a law passed in 1998,
signed by then-President Clinton and now backed by the Bush
administration. The majority said a lower court was correct to block
the law from taking effect because it likely violates the First
Amendment. The American Civil Liberties Union and other critics of the
law said that it would restrict far too much material that adults may
legally see and buy, the court said. "Today's ruling from the court
demonstrates that there are many less restrictive ways to protect
children without sacrificing communication intended for adults," said
ACLU associate litigation director Ann Beeson in a statement. Beeson
argued the case before the court in 2001 and again last
March.
LinkVideo of Lessig Free Culture speech in
Helsinki
Video of Lessig Free Culture speech in
Helsinki
07/27/2004 02:35 PM
There a small, but well produced mp4 video of Lessig's speech about Free Culture and
the Creative Commons that he gave when he was in Helsinki
this May.
Thanks to Jyri at
Aula for the link and for organizing the event.
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Welcome to the Free Speech Coalition
