freedom
Funeral Flap: Justices Weigh Religion, Speech Rights
The Supreme Court agreed Monday to delve into the sensitive question of whether the First Amendment protects anti-gay protesters carrying placards outside military funerals, bearing “America is Doomed,” “Thank God for 9/11″ and other volatile slogans, like “Thank God for dead soldiers.” The messages and picketing are part of a Kansas church’s belief that the United States’ tolerance for homosexuality is cause for soldiers’ deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan. The case the justices decided to review Monday tests the boundaries of free speech versus freedom of religion — doctrines both embodied in the First Amendment. Without comment, the justices agreed to review last year’s federal appellate decision that overturned a $5 million verdict (.pdf) in favor of a Baltimore man who sued the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka and its pastor, Fred Phelps, in 2006.
Continue reading »Freedom of Speech Censorship in Australia Coming to an End?
The state of South Australia has snatched politicians’ promise that the highly disputed election law enacted on January 6 will be revoked. The recently introduced law stipulates that anyone publishing politically oriented comments online during election periods must declare their identity or risk the prospect of paying a stinging fine. Applied only to bloggers and commenters, not to official online newspapers or magazines, the law has a pronounced discriminatory character, which is condemned by persons constricted by its terms.
Continue reading »EFF and Study Authors Refute PFFs ‘Junk Science’ Claims
The Progress & Freedom Foundation (PFF) had some choice words expressed by a study on DMCA notices received by Google. While the posting was very pointed, the authors of the study Thomas Sydnor accused of being “junk science”, as well as the EFF, gave ZeroPaid a response to the many accusations made by the author of the blog posting The posting by Sydnor had plenty of accusations against a Chilling Effects study which was used by Google in New Zealand . It should be known that the PFF is known for being supporters of the RIAA, the MPAA and other organizations that represent a point of view that copyright should be more restrictive.
Continue reading »It’s official: Blogging is a dangerous business
Report suggests 2009 was worst ever year for bloggers 2009 was a bad year for freedom of speech across the world, with journalists and bloggers getting the worst of it.…
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