EFF backs Anonymous Speech bill
p2pnet.net News:- Your employer just laid off 300 of your colleagues without notice and without severance pay. So you go online and post an angry, anonymous comment about it on a Yahoo! message board. Although you could lose your job if your boss discovered what you’ve said, you feel safe because nobody who reads the comment knows who you are. Plus, your right to engage in anonymous free speech is protected under the First Amendment, right?
Wrong.
That’s how the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) sets things up for its decision to get behind a California Senate Bill 1143 – the Internet Communications Protection Act (ICPA) aimed at protecting anonymous speech online.
It’s currently legal in California for someone to subpoena personal information from your ISP without any court oversight – and even without notifying you.
That’s how your boss – or anyone else, come to that – could read the comment you posted under the impression that you were anonymous.
The EFF says it and other organizations have defended dozens of individuals whose identities were sought after they’d criticized corporations or other people online.
"Nearly all of the cases are dropped once opposition begins, indicating that the lawsuits are aimed at silencing criticism and identifying critics, rather than addressing legitimate legal claims," says the EFF.
Now California Assembly Member Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) is sponsoring Assembly Bill 1143, the Internet Communications Protection Act (ICPA) which would protect anonymous speakers on the Net by requiring service providers to notify them before handing over personal information that’s been subpoenaed.
"This information could include addresses, phone numbers, and any other private details a person provided to enable him or her to get Internet connectivity," says the EFF. "Once a user is notified and given the basic information about the claims, he or she is given a window of time to respond and thus gain the opportunity to secure legal representation to contest the validity of the subpoena and protect personal information."
It also allows service providers to bill subpoenaing parties for the costs of notifying users.
But – people can subpoena information without notification “in emergency cases," says the EFF.
We asked EFF legal director Cindy Cohn who decides what an emergency is:
"The answer is the Judge," she said. "If the subpoenaing party makes an emergency motion (usually called a TRO) and it is granted by the judge, they don’t have to give the notice."
Cohn and other supporters will be lobbying for the ICPA in Sacramento tomorrow.
June 9th, 2004 at 4:07 pm
thankfully the EFF exists and deserves everyones thanks,
even those who seek to stop its efforts, b/c one day even they will want the protection that the EFF promotes.