[LINK] 'Online Rights'

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

Chilling Effects

http://www.chillingeffects.org


A joint project of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Harvard,
Stanford, Berkeley, University of San Francisco, University of Maine,
George Washington School of Law, and the Santa Clara University School
of Law clinics.

Do you know your online rights? 

Have you received a letter asking you to remove information from a Web 
site or to stop engaging in an activity? Are you concerned about 
liability for information that someone else posted to your online forum? 

If so, this site is for you. 

Chilling Effects aims to help you understand the protections that the 
First Amendment and intellectual property laws give to your online 
activities. 

We are excited about the new opportunities the Internet offers 
individuals to express their views, parody politicians, celebrate their 
favorite movie stars, or criticize businesses. 

But we've noticed that not everyone feels the same way. Anecdotal 
evidence suggests that some individuals and corporations are using 
intellectual property and other laws to silence other online users. 

Chilling Effects encourages respect for intellectual property law, while 
frowning on its misuse to "chill" legitimate activity. 

The website offers background material and explanations of the law for 
people whose websites deal with topics such as Fan Fiction, Copyright, 
Domain Names and Trademarks, Anonymous Speech, and Defamation. 

In addition, we want your help. 

We are gathering a searchable database of Cease and Desist notices sent 
to Internet users like you. 

We invite you to input Cease and Desist letters that you've received into 
our database, to document the chill. We will respond by linking the 
legalese in the letters to FAQs that explain the allegations in plain 
English. 

Periodically, we issue "weather reports" assessing the climate for 
Internet activity based on the letters we receive and news reports. What 
areas (topics, legal categories, jurisdictions) are coolest to online 
conduct? What activities risk being frozen out altogether? What conduct 
gets the warmest reception? 

Getting Started:

The Chilling Effects Clearinghouse contains multiple topic areas. Choose 
a topic area to view its introduction, Frequently Asked Questions, and 
annotated Cease & Desist notices, along with reference material and 
recent news links. 

If you are visiting because you have received a Cease & Desist notice, we 
invite you to input your notice in the database. 

Questions on the submission form will help to categorize your letter, and 
then guide you toward topic areas for further information. 

Once the notice is in our database, clinical law students will be able to 
annotate it with questions and answers.

Sample Cease and Desist Letter with Analysis:
<http://www.chillingeffects.org/fanfic/notice.cgi?NoticeID=7>

Conceived and developed at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, 
Chilling Effects is a joint project of the Electronic Frontier Foundation 
(EFF) and clinics at Harvard Law School's Berkman Center, Stanford Law 
School's Center for Internet & Society, Boalt Hall's Samuelson Law, 
Technology and Public Policy Clinic, and other law schools across the 
country. 
--

Cheers,
Stephen