free speech

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Seinfeld Defense: Lawsuits are Funny

Sez silly suits are fodder for routine

(Newser) - Jerry Seinfeld insisted yesterday that he didn’t slander a woman suing his wife for cookbook plagiarism because silly lawsuits are fodder for good comedy. The comic cited episodes from Seinfeld as well as his kid-friendly Bee Movie in a court filing as examples of the First Amendment-protected comedic license...

Denver Can 'Corral' Convention Protesters: Court

Judge rules security concerns take priority over free speech

(Newser) - A federal judge has ruled that protesters can be confined to a fenced-in zone at the Democratic National Convention because security concerns outweigh activists' right to free speech, Reuters reports. The ACLU and a coalition of protest groups had brought a lawsuit against Denver and the Secret Service over plans...

High-Tech 'Trolls' Stalk the Internet, Harrass for Fun

Web subculture has disdain for just about everything

(Newser) - They gleefully wreak havoc online, tormenting the parents of a teen suicide victim, for example, or causing the website of an epilepsy foundation to flash brilliantly to trigger convulsions. These so-called trolls seek "lulz," or laughs, for their deeds and test the limits of free speech online. One...

French Fight Ban on Insulting Civil Servants

More civil servants filing suits when slighted

(Newser) - A Paris publisher has launched a high-profile crusade to legalize an increasingly popular crime: the insulting of public officials, the London Times reports. After being fined €150 for calling a cop a connard—or stupid bastard—Jean-Jacques Reboux got even angrier, and accused civil servants of abusing the law...

China's New Artist Policy Could Ban Spielberg

Director's Darfur protest stunt may run afoul of Beijing leadership

(Newser) - Steven Spielberg or his films could be banned from China under the new rules barring artists seen as a threat to national sovereignty, the Hollywood Reporter notes. Spielberg rankled Chinese leadership when he publicly withdrew from an artistic advisory board for the Beijing Olympics in protest of the nation’s...

Online Spaces Snub Free Speech That Offends

'Good corporate citizens' send blogs, photos, videos to the trashbin

(Newser) - A variety of websites are deleting postings that could offend, and with full legal protection—sparking debate about whether free speech exists online. Case in point: an image of a young smoker posted on Yahoo's photo service. It was cut for promoting underage smoking, but the photographer calls it a...

College Uses Facebook to Police Student Parties

Seattle U cites warns students who break the rules

(Newser) - A Seattle school is tracking student parties through Facebook and threatening students who break the rules, the Seattle Times reports. Seattle University recently scrapped a party where men were to wear flipped-up collars, and women Victoria's Secret or Abercrombie and Fitch. "You will be held responsible" for hosting a...

No Charges for Scientology Protester

Court rules sign not 'abusive, insulting'

(Newser) - Charges against a 15-year-old who called Scientology as a ‘cult’ were dropped today, the BBC reports. The London police issued a mea culpa after a court ruled that the teen’s holding up a sign reading, "Scientology is not a religion, it is a dangerous cult," did...

Turkey Eases Controversial 'Insult' Statute

But advocates say changes to free speech law mainly cosmetic

(Newser) - The Turkish parliament has approved changes to a notorious law that makes it a crime to "insult Turkishness," reports the Financial Times. Ankara legislators today amended the notorious Article 301, reducing the maximum sentence and requiring the justice minister to approve all prosecutions. But while nationalists are outraged,...

Prosecutors Probe Gossip Site
 Prosecutors Probe Gossip Site 
Mar 19, 2008 5:21 PM CDT

Prosecutors Probe Gossip Site

Online rumor forum draws NJ Attorney General's attention

(Newser) - Prosecutors have hit college gossip site JuicyCampus.com with subpoenas for records, the AP reports. New Jersey’s Attorney General Anne Milgram is investigating whether the site violates the Consumer Fraud Act by stating that it doesn’t tolerate offensive material but doing nothing to enforce that claim. "There's...

Tibet Shoutout Spurs Crackdown
Tibet Shoutout Spurs Crackdown
Mar 7, 2008 4:45 PM CST

Tibet Shoutout Spurs Crackdown

Cry supporting independence prompts threat of censorship

(Newser) - Beijing says it will toughen restrictions on visiting artists performing in China in response to Bjork's onstage expression of support for Tibetan independence, the London Times reports. “We shall never tolerate any attempt to separate Tibet from China and will no longer welcome any artists who deliberately do this,...

Swiss Bank Drops Wikileaks Lawsuit
Swiss Bank Drops Wikileaks Lawsuit
Mar 6, 2008 3:32 PM CST

Swiss Bank Drops Wikileaks Lawsuit

Case of posted documents raised free-speech issues

(Newser) - The Swiss bank that sued over private documents posted on Wikileaks.org has withdrawn the motion, the AP reports. Bank Julius Baer did not say why it pulled the case, but the cease-fire brings an end to a case that raised First Amendment questions when a judge ordered the site...

Wikileaks Judge Reverses His Own Injunction

In 'oops!' moment, jurist says original ruling was likely unconstitutional

(Newser) - The judge who (tried to) shut down Wikileaks by issuing an injunction against the whistleblowing site has changed his mind and lifted the order, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Judge Jeffrey White said his original order, designed to protect a Swiss Bank's information, raised "serious questions of prior restraint...

Video Sparks Hacker War vs. Scientology

Embarrassing Cruise clip disappears; mayhem ensues

(Newser) - After the Church of Scientology removed a video of Tom Cruise calling his religion a “blast” from YouTube, the Internet world declared war. Hackers have been furiously shutting down and “Google bombing” Scientology's website while free-speech protesters gather and pranksters send white powder in envelopes to LA-area Scientology...

Prof Guilty of Insulting Turkish Founder

Suspended sentence may mean trouble for country's bid to join EU

(Newser) - A Turkish court today handed a political science professor a 15-month suspended sentence for insulting the country's founder. Attila Yayla had suggested that Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was not as progressive as official portrayals indicate. The conviction heightens scrutiny of the country's commitment to freedom of expression as it pursues EU...

Pols Like to Reach Out and Annoy Someone

States attetmpt to stop 'robo-calls,' but don't wait by the phone

(Newser) - Americans tend to get popular right before they vote, with their phones ringing as many as 25 times on election eves. Nineteen states have tried to cut down on “robo-calls,” and five more are considering laws this year, when hundreds of millions of them may be placed, USA ...

Springer Opera Dodges Blasphemy Bullet

Christian group can't sue BBC director: court

(Newser) - A British court has ruled that the BBC can't be prosecuted for blasphemy for airing Jerry Springer—The Opera, which features scenes set in Hell with Jesus and Satan. The High Court ruled that not only is the opera not blasphemous—because it satirizes a TV show rather than attacking...

Publisher Faces Prison for Book on Armenians

Accused of 'insulting Turkishness' with book urging reconciliation

(Newser) - A Turkish publisher goes on trial today in Istanbul for violating that country's controversial law against "insulting Turkishness." Ragip Zarakolu is accused of contravening the notorious Article 301 by publishing a book by a London-based author promoting reconciliation between Turks and Armenians. The trial of a relatively moderate...

The T-Shirt as Terror Weapon
The T-Shirt as Terror Weapon
Nov 29, 2007 4:46 PM CST

The T-Shirt as Terror Weapon

Danish T-shirt peddlers on trial in debate over free speech, fashion

(Newser) - Seven Danish entrepreneurs are on trial in Copenhagen for hawking T-shirts featuring the logos of two groups classified by the EU as terrorist organizations—PFLP, a Palestinian extremist group, and Farc, a group of Marxist guerrillas in Colombia. The shirts were sold by Freedom+Lovers, which calls itself "dedicated to...

Protesters Fail to Stop Debate
Protesters Fail to Stop Debate
UPDATED
Nov 26, 2007 6:08 PM CST

Protesters Fail to Stop Debate

Students chant "Nazi Scum" at attendees of Oxford debate

(Newser) - An Oxford Union debate is underway despite 30 students who rushed inside and delayed proceedings with a sit-down protest, BBC reports. Five hundred more are picketing outside and blocked about half of attendees from entering. Students chanted "Keep Oxford fascist-free! Shame on you!” in opposition to right-wing leader...

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