In Legal First, ACLU Sues Over New Copyright LawSays Blocking Program Lists Should Be Revealed
In the first challenge of its kind, the American Civil Liberties Union on July 25, 2002 asked a federal court in Massachusetts to rule that a computer researcher has First Amendment and ""fair use"" rights to examine the full list of sites contained in an Internet blocking program and to share his research tools and results with others. More. . . Update!
On April 9, 2003, the district court granted N2H2's motion to dismiss, holding that Mr. Edelman did not have standing to sue because he had not yet completed the research that may violate the DMCA. The ACLU is considering possible next steps. Full text of the dismissal ACLU Resources
- Frequently asked questions about Benjamin Edelman's lawsuit
- ACLU legal complaint in Edelman v. N2H2 (July 25, 2002)
- Plaintiff's Memorandum of Law in Opposition to Defendant's Motion to Dismiss (Oct. 31, 2002)
- Judge's Order Granting Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Case (April 9, 2003)
Links on DMCA
- Text of DMCA
- Electronic Frontier Foundation page on DMCA
- ACLU Amicus brief in DeCSS (DVD encryption cracking) case
- ACLU Urges Appeals Court to Protect Free Speech In Landmark DVD Copyright Case (Jan. 26, 2001)
Links on Internet Blocking
- Feature on ACLU's library Internet blocking case
- Ben Edelman's research on Internet blocking around the world
- Edelman's research on Internet blocking software
- ACLU Special Report: Censorship In a Box
- Human Rights Watch - "Free Expression on the Internet" (2000)
- Examples of wrongly blocked pages (from ACLU library trial)
- Consumer Reports Reviews Blocking Software Programs
- Find Out Who's Been Censored at the Censorware Project