New Jersey Judge Shields Anonymous Blogger 61
netbuzz brings us an update to a case we discussed earlier this month: "In a widely watched free-speech case, a New Jersey judge has upheld a blogger's right to criticize county officials anonymously. The contention of those officials was that the blogger is actually a former mayor/attorney being sued by the local government for malpractice. This comes less than a month after the Electronic Frontier Foundation began their legal efforts to shield the blogger, claiming that the subpoena for Google to release his identity was 'part of an unrelated and unauthorized campaign to embarrass or otherwise outmaneuver the Defendant.' Score one for the First Amendment."
About time the first amendment means something! (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:First amendment? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:First amendment? (Score:3, Interesting)
Taking this into consideration, can you understand why the First Amendment right to freedom of speech isn't 100% absolute? Should I not then be allowed to brand all my crappy software "Google" with their logo? Should I not then be allowed to freely distribute any copyrighted material to anyone, since it's merely free expression? Should I not then be allowed to shout "Fire" in a crowded theater, or point a megaphone at my neighbor's house and shout through it at all hours of the day?
Clearly the First Amendment says Congress cannot prohibit what I've just suggested, since they are all speech activities that Congress is, by the First Amendment, not allowed to abridge.
No?