Law

Blogging and the Law

by

The Wall Street Journal article titled “Bloggers, Beware: What You Write Can Get you Sued”. The article started with a discussion of a woman who was sued because she was in a dispute with a software company over accusations that customer data was compromised in an online forum. She was sued for defamation and she claimed protection under the “shield laws” which protect traditional (print, television) journalists. Her insurance company, Allstate, was paying for her legal costs under her “umbrella” insurance policy which is designed to fill in for potential issues not covered under auto and home owner policies.

Traditional issues with the web related to copyright infringement issues; one time I ran a different site that was hit with a “cease and desist” letter for publishing data about a certification process (not specific testing information) – I took the information down and posted the letter on the site instead. Nowadays it seems that much of the copyright infringement issues have migrated to downloading music because of the revenue losses; the newspapers and other institutions don’t seem to be going after blogs much.

Read more

Quote of the Day

by

… the right of self-defense was not a right that was enacted by governments and granted to the people. The right was inherent in the natural order of the world, and the right existed everywhere. The principle of a natural right of self-defense was pervasive among the American Founders. The Founders viewed resistance to tyranny … simply as an application of the right of self-defense, which was a natural right regardless of whether a person was attacked by a lone criminal, or by a large criminal gang, in the form of a tyrannical government.

David B. Kopel, The Catholic Second Amendment

(Good essay — but riddled with typos.)

Extremely Disturbing

by

Obama has nominated Cass Sunstein, who he knows from the University of Chicago, to be “regulatory czar.” Apparently, Sunstein has proposed that web sites be required to link to opposing opinions. He has argued that the Internet is anti-democratic because users can choose to view only those opinions that they want to see, and has gone so far as to say:

A system of limitless individual choices, with respect to communications, is not necessarily in the interest of citizenship and self-government,” he wrote. “Democratic efforts to reduce the resulting problems ought not be rejected in freedom’s name.

Read more

The Obama Administration and the Terrorist Threat

by

Andrew C McCarthy, former U.S. Attorney for the southern district of New York, responds to a request from AG Eric Holder for his participation in a task force on detention policies–a request which McCarthy (who led the terrorism prosecution against Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman and eleven others in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing) chose to decline. Here’s why:

I admire the lawyers of the Counterterrorism Division, and I do not question their good faith. Nevertheless, it is quite clear—most recently, from your provocative remarks on Wednesday in Germany—that the Obama administration has already settled on a policy of releasing trained jihadists (including releasing some of them into the United States). Whatever the good intentions of the organizers, the meeting will obviously be used by the administration to claim that its policy was arrived at in consultation with current and former government officials experienced in terrorism cases and national security issues. I deeply disagree with this policy, which I believe is a violation of federal law and a betrayal of the president’s first obligation to protect the American people. Under the circumstances, I think the better course is to register my dissent, rather than be used as a prop.

Read the whole thing.

For those who don’t remember just what a serious matter the fight against terrorism is, here’s a reminder.

The Kindness of Strangers

by

Last year, a buddy and I were driving to the shooting range when we witnessed a terrible crash on the highway.

We stopped to help, of course. So did other people who were passing by. One man, confusing the steam billowing from the shattered radiator as evidence of fire, even managed to pull the door open from the twisted frame using brute strength alone. (We reached him in time, before he laid hands on the victim, and explained that it was a bad idea.)

Emergency services were called, and the cars passing by slowed down to gawk. Many people pulled over to the side of the road, asking if there was anything they could do. The response was so wide spread that there was a danger that the way would be blocked by the cars of amateur rescuers. I had to station myself next to the road, thanking everyone for their concern, but sending them on their way if they weren’t trained in rescue or medicine.

I was driving alone a few months later when another car accident occurred right in front of me, this time in a residential neighborhood. No injuries or deaths, although the damage to both vehicles was extensive.

I stopped to help, of course, and found the same situation. People driving by would ask if there was anything they could do. Those who lived near by not only phoned the authorities, but they came out of their homes and hustled down the street with first aid kits, bottled water, fire extinguishers and blankets. After determining that I didn’t need to administer first aid, my role became one of thanking the concerned and asking them to keep moving so the police and tow trucks could get through.

Are the people in Columbus, Ohio just more noble people than those living elsewhere? I find that to be impossible to believe.

Read more