Idea Lab

CMLP Leads Amicus Effort Promoting Rights of Anonymous Speakers in Illinois

by David Ardia
2007 Knight News Challenge Winner

In a case involving important First Amendment rights, the Citizen Media Law Project joined a number of media and advocacy organizations, including Gannett Co., Inc., Hearst Corporation, Illinois Press Association, Online News Association, Public Citizen, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and Tribune Company, in asking an Illinois appellate court to protect the rights of anonymous speakers online by imposing procedural safeguards before requiring that their identities be disclosed. The amicus coalition, represented by Harvard Law School's Cyberlaw Clinic, submitted a "friend of the court" brief yesterday in the case of Maxon v. Ottawa Publishing. The case is before the...

• March 25, 2009
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Court Issues Search Warrant to Unmask Anonymous Poster

by David Ardia
2007 Knight News Challenge Winner

One of the issues we've been focusing on at the Citizen Media Law Project is whether traditional legal protections for journalists and journalism organizations are eroding as news organizations move online.  A recent search warrant seeking information about the identity of a user of the Lawrence Journal-World's website, LJWorld.com, raises serious concerns about governmental overreaching and highlights the need for adequate legal protections for website user information. Last month, an investigator at Kansas University delivered a search warrant to the Lawrence Journal-World, a highly regarded newspaper in Lawrence, Kansas, demanding access to their computer servers in order to get information...

• January 9, 2008
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