[12257] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
ALERT: KEEP FREE AND OPEN SPEECH ON NET
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Meeks Defense Fund)
Wed May 11 19:33:18 1994
Date: Wed, 11 May 1994 13:38:30 -0400 (EDT)
From: Meeks Defense Fund <fund@idi.net>
To: com-priv@psi.com, telecomreg@relay.adp.wisc.edu, roundtable@cni.org,
COMMUNET@uvmvm.uvm.edu, cni-announce@cni.org, cpsr-announce@cpsr.org,
eff-activists@eff.org, alt-activism-d@cs.utexas,
alt-activism@cs.utexas.edu, alt-society-resistance@cs.utexas.edu,
alt-politics-datahighway@cs.utexas.edu
Dear Net Citizen:
How do you put a price on free and open dialogue on the Net?
How much are you willing to spend to preserve the concept of roboust
and open debate that have become a part of the Internet's culture?
$100? $50? $20?
What if the cost of helping to preserve an open and robust Net was
no more than $1.29? That's right, less than the cost of a fast
food hamburger. Freedom on the Internet for only $1.29... cheap
at twice the price.
A joke? Hardly. The free and open speech, indeed the First Amendment
rights of the Internet -- rights we've all enjoyed for decades -- are now
being challenged in court.
CyberWire Dispatch, the well-respected online newswire written and
developed for the Internet community by journalist Brock Meeks, is
the subject of a libel suit. CyberWire Dispatch has been at the
forefront of bringing the Net community timely and insightful
articles.
This suit was highlighted in a _Wall St. Journal_ article (April
22, page B1). The subject of a Dispatch investigation is suing
Meeks for simply doing what journalists in the traditional print
medium have done since the founding of newspapers: Print the
facts and let the public decide the outcome.
Brock and the Cyperwire Dispatch are examples of the "bottom up"
journalism that charachterizes the Net, where anyone with a modem can
compete with the traditional press. Of course, most of us don't come
to the Net with a lawyer in tow, or the resources to defend a legal
action taken against us in courts located hundreds of miles from our
homes.
This libel action is one of the earliest cases of libel involving
alleged defamatory statements published over a computer network.
It raises the extremely important legal and policy issues. It's impact
may well determine how and to what extent anyone feels free to express
strong opinions on the Net, wihtout being put at risk of legal action.
It is crucial that Brock have a strong defense and that the principles
that come out of this case provide the maximum protection to the
exercise of free and open speech as possible.
CyberWire Dispatch is unique because it's distributed solely in
electronic form. A service for the Net community at large. And
all CyberWire Dispatch articles are free. Meeks neither charges
anyone for receiving them; he gets paid nothing to write them.
For all these efforts, he's being sued. And being sued by a
company with a large financial backing. Meeks, on the other hand,
has no such resources. His attorney, Bruce Sanford of Baker &
Hostetler is arguably the finest First Amendment lawyer in the
U.S.
And although he has agreed to represent Meeks at a reduced rate,
the cost of defending against this unmerited suit will not be
cheap.
We have formed this committee to lend our support in helping him
raise money for his legal defense. And all we're asking you to
send is $1.29. That's it. Why that price? The math is easy: $1
in an envelope with a 29 cent stamp applied.
Who can't afford $1.29 to help save the great freedoms we all
enjoy here today?
Can you send more? Of course. Any contributions will be
welcomed and accepted. Tax deductible donations also are
possible by following the instructions below.
All money sent for Meeks' legal defense fund will be go to that
purpose. All the administrative services for administering the
fund are being donated; 100% of your money goes to defer the
legal costs of this case.
You are encouraged to repost this message. But please, we urge
you to keep proper Net protocol in mind when reposting or cross
posting this message.
Thanks for your time. On behalf of Brock and for future
generations of electronic journalists, we appreciate your
contributions and support.
Sincerely,
Samuel A. Simon
President, Issue Dynmics, Inc.*
ssimon@idi.net
Mitch Kapor
Chair, Electronic Frontier Foundation*
Kapor@eff.org
David Farber
The Alfred Fitler Moore Professor of Telecommunications Systems
University of Pennsylvania*
farber@central.cis.upenn.edu
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Senior Writer
TIME Magazine*
ped@panix.com
Marc Rotenberg
Electronic Infomation Privacy Center*
epic@cpsr.org
Nicholas Johnson
Former FCC Commissoner*
103-5393@mcimail.com
Jerry Berman
Electronic Frontier Foundation*
jbeman@eff.org
Mike Godwin
Electronic Frontier Foundation*
mnemonic@eff.org
*AFFILIATION IS FOR INDENTIFICATION PURPOSE ONLY
For Tax Deductible Donations:
Make Checks out to "Point Foundation" and clearly annotate on the check:
"For Legal Defense Fund."
Send those checks to:
Meeks Defense Fund
c/o Point Foundation
27 Gate Five Road
Sausalito, CA 94965
For those who don't care about the tax deductible status, send
contributions to:
Meeks Defense Fund
c/o IDI
901 15th St. NW
Suite 230
Washington, DC 20005
####################################################################
# Meeks Defense Fund | Internet: fund@idi.net #
# ---------------------------------------------------------------- #
# c/o IDI c/o Point Foundation #
# 901 15th St. NW 27 Gate Five Road #
# Suite 230 Sausalito, CA 9465 #
# Washington, DC 20005 #
####################################################################
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Samuel A. Simon
IDI (Issue Dynamics Inc) | Internet: ssimon@idi.net
901 15th St. NW Suite 230
Washington, DC 20005
(202)408-1400 (v/tdd)
(202)408-1134 (fax)
(202)408-1163 (BBS)
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