free speech

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Nev. Newspaper Defends Commenters' Anonymity

Review-Journal , ACLU fight subpoena for commenters' identities

(Newser) - A tax-evasion trial has sparked a free-speech controversy at the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The paper has declined to honor a federal subpoena demanding the identities of everyone who commented on an article on the trial. Businessman Robert Kahre faces tax-fraud charges for hiding the real value of sales of gold...

Falwell's Liberty U. Quashes Campus Dems

(Newser) - Jerry Falwell’s conservative Christian Liberty University has suspended the student Democratic Club for supporting candidates “directly contrary to the mission” of the school, the Lynchburg News Advance reports. Virginia Democrats are up in arms. “I urge the leadership of Liberty University to reverse this attack on the...

Toxic Teen Website Infuriates Parents, Cops

On anonymous message board, free speech becomes personal attacks

(Newser) - The creator of the online message board Peoplesdirt.com says he's just providing an "avenue for people to express their feelings," but parents and teachers disagree. The website allows teenagers to anonymously post slurs and false rumors about fellow students. Although it's legal, it's also hateful and humiliating,...

Press Freedom Declines Worldwide

New report sees losses in all regions for first time ever

(Newser) - Press freedom declined worldwide last year for the seventh year in a row, and for the first time suffered losses in all regions, according to a new report by Freedom House. Slipping from “free” to “partially free” were Israel, Italy and Hong Kong, while Cambodia fell to “...

1st Amendment v. Dogfight Video: High Court to Decide

Conviction rests on First Amendment status of animal abuse tapes

(Newser) - The Supreme Court agreed today to hear that pits the First Amendment against the production and sale of dogfighting videos, the Chicago Tribune reports. The case involves a man jailed for selling several brutally explicit videos of pit bulls fighting. A federal appeals court overturned his conviction on grounds that...

Controversial Muhammad Cartoon Goes on Sale

Some copies are signed by artists in hiding

(Newser) - Three years after political cartoons of the prophet Muhammad sparked violent riots in Muslim countries, the Denmark Free Press Society is selling prints of the controversial art. Some of the 1,000 copies, priced at $250 each, are signed by the artist, who remains in hiding due to death threats,...

Despite Cartoon Flap, Danish PM to Head NATO

Turkey shoots down Danish candidate

(Newser) - NATO named Anders Fogh Rasmussen as its new secretary-general today, overcoming a contentious stalemate with Turkey, the AP reports. Turkey had strongly opposed the Danish prime minister because he’d supported the newspapers that printed cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in 2005. Turkey argued that Rasmussen’s selection wouldn’t...

School Fired Prof Over 9/11 Essay: Jury

He wins case after calling victims 'little Eichmanns'

(Newser) - A jury decided today that the University of Colorado unjustly fired one of its professors after he called 9/11 victims "little Eichmanns" in an essay, the Denver Post reports. Jurors, however, awarded Ward Churchill only $1 in damages. A judge will now determine whether the school must reinstate Churchill...

ACLU: Lobbyist Rules Restrict Free Speech

(Newser) - The ACLU and other watchdog groups on both the left and right think President Obama is carrying his crusade against lobbyists too far, Politico reports. Obama's recent directive forbidding government officials from discussing how to spend the stimulus with lobbyists infringes on free speech, they say. The groups plan to...

Supreme Court Rules Against Utah Sect

Monument won't fly; public statues are 'government speech'

(Newser) - The Supreme Court today denied a Utah sect the right to erect a monument in a public park, settling a case that had serious implications for free speech and freedom of religion, the New York Times reports. Members of the Summum religion are free to espouse their beliefs in the...

Misguided Cartoonist Has 'Right to Fail': Parker

Image was easily misread, but it's just a cartoon

(Newser) - The New York Post cartoon that has Al Sharpton up in arms was poorly thought out, to be sure, writes Kathleen Parker in the Washington Post. It "was offensive for reasons unrelated to race," she argues, but it’s important to remember that “outrage is out of...

Calif. Court Blasts Violent Game Ban

(Newser) - A federal appeals court ruled today that violent video games can be sold to minors in California, GameSpot reports. Upholding a lower court's decision, the judges struck down a state law that sought to ban the sale of violent games to those under 18. The law violated free speech rights,...

Limbaugh to Obama: Don't Touch Talk Radio

Following suit with some Dems would mean violating free speech

(Newser) - There’s been talk among Democrats that government should intervene to ensure balance in talk radio. But government weighing in on content is a direct violation of the First Amendment, writes Rush Limbaugh in the Wall Street Journal, and as a former law prof, our new president knows that. President...

Mexico's Drug Lords Target Reporters

Station attack comes with clear message to drop coverage

(Newser) - The epidemic of violence related to Mexico's drug trade has spilled over into media coverage of the situation, with drug lords attempting to scare journalists out of doing their jobs. Mexico is one of the most dangerous places in the world for reporters, reports the Christian Science Monitor: Eleven died...

Chiropractor Sues Over Bad Online Review

San Fran libel case could break back of review sites

(Newser) - A chiropractor's lawsuit has the potential to break the back of the online business-review industry, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. The bone-cracker is suing a client who posted a complaint on review site Yelp that suggested he was dishonest with insurance companies. "I think he is trying to scare...

'Rated R' May Be Coming to a Website Near You

Brits hope to partner with US to police web

(Newser) - Calling the Internet a “quite dangerous place,” Britain’s culture secretary says he’ll work with the Obama administration on establishing international guidelines to protect children. One idea under consideration: giving websites film-style ratings, the Telegraph reports. “There is definitely a case for clearer standards online,”...

Racist Music Finds Home Online
 Racist Music Finds 
 Home Online 
GLOSSIES
Dec 25, 2008 1:16 PM CST

Racist Music Finds Home Online

White-power albums readily available on iTunes, Amazon, to bands' delight

(Newser) - Online outlets are making it much easier for musical acts with unpopular messages to get their material heard, Spin reports. “Because stores wouldn’t carry us, selling records used to be laborious,” says the lead singer of white-power act Brutal Attack, citing boycotts from anti-racist groups. The band...

Afghan Writer's Death Sentence Reduced

Student gets 20 years for 'blasphemy' about women's rights

(Newser) - Parwez Kambakhsh won’t be executed for distributing literature on women’s rights, but the student and part-time journalist will spend the next 20 years in prison, an Afghan appeals court ruled yesterday. “This is arguably worse for him,” one human-rights advocate told the Los Angeles Times of...

China's Great, Baffling Failure: Public Relations

Beijing completely misses 'crass value of cultivating the press'

(Newser) - It’s no secret that China is moving into position as a global superpower, writes James Fallows in the Atlantic, and this only further highlights its leaders’ baffling inability to understand how the country is viewed from the outside—and how to change those opinions for the better. Officials just...

Va. Court Voids Spam Law
Va. Court Voids Spam Law
Sep 12, 2008 1:32 PM CDT

Va. Court Voids Spam Law

Statute violated First Amendment rights; man who sent 10M emails daily can go free

(Newser) - Virginia’s anti-spam laws are unconstitutional because they prohibit behavior shielded by the First Amendment, the state’s supreme court ruled today. The ruling overturns the conviction of Jeremy Jaynes, who received the nation’s first felony spam conviction in 2004, the Richmond Times-Dispatch says. Prosecutors alleged Jaynes sent up...

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