Fighting SLAPPs, Protecting the First Amendment
Recently, a class action lawsuit was filed against the producers and broadcasters of the popular reality television programs “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette,” claiming that the show discriminates against people of color in its casting decisions. (Entertainment Weekly’s report on … Read the rest
Very interesting decision by California’s First Appellate District in a case called Summit Bank v. Rogers this week regarding a 100-year old criminal defamation statute, Financial Code section 1327, which makes it a misdemeanor for any person to make any … Read the rest
Following up on our post regarding the ridiculously overbroad first draft of Arizona’s new cyber harassment law, it seems the state legislature of New York has also hopped aboard the bandwagon of passing unconstitutional prior restraints on internet speech. … Read the rest
TechDirt and others are reporting on an interesting possible SLAPP filed by an Oregon church, the Beaverton Grace Bible Church, against a former member who wrote a bad review of the church online on her blog. The statements the … Read the rest
Great post by James Skyles at askacyberlawyer.com showing how a SLAPPed blogger sued in Georgia has fought back against the plaintiff in his lawsuit. The letter embedded in the post does a good job of explaining some of the typical, … Read the rest
If you aren’t a lawyer, you may have figured out that the lawsuit filed against you is a SLAPP, but you probably don’t know how a SLAPP suit works and what the procedural stages of the lawsuit are. This post … Read the rest
Story here and here. Kudos to the Index on Censorship for leading the Libel Reform Campaign.
Britain’s archaic libel laws (not officially reformed since 1843!) have long been exploited by those seeking to chill the free speech rights … Read the rest
Recently, the California anti-SLAPP statute has come under criticism from some quarters — including, most notably, a panel of justices at the First District Court of Appeal — for its potential for abuse by cagey or unscrupulous defendants. (See the … Read the rest
Finding out that someone has issued a subpoena to your internet service provider seeking information about you is scary. But do not despair! This post will give you some information about what this means and what you can do when … Read the rest
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has a great story up on their DeepLinks blog about the latest abuse of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s take-down notice provisions. It seems that Rush Limbaugh has hopped on the bandwagon of public figures who … Read the rest