Protect online free speech

Over and above the right to free speech is the right to anonymity. We are free to say what we want, and in order to protect ourselves from harassment and persecution, we are free to say it without anyone knowing who we are. Anonymity played an important role in the founding of our country. James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay published the Federalist Papers under pseudonyms, as did Thomas Paine with Common Sense. The Supreme Court has consistently ruled in favor of anonymity. But our right to online anonymity has recently come under attack in the form of CyberSLAPP legal suits.\nA SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Policy) case typically involves a large corporation or public figure who files a lawsuit against an individual with the intent of silencing or intimidating that individual. These suits are often frivolous and have no chance of success in court but succeed in intimidating the individual who cannot shell out the money for colossal legal fees. In a CyberSLAPP case, the corporation or public figure typically files a suit against an individual who has anonymously criticized them on the Internet. The suit is filed for the sole purpose of issuing a subpoena to the individual's Internet Service Provider. The subpoena forces the ISP to hand the individual's identity over to the plaintiff, who goes on to intimidate or silence the individual.\nBecause SLAPP suits represent such a widespread abuse of the law, some states have adopted anti-SLAPP legislation. Typically such legislation demands that plaintiffs pay the defendants' legal fees if the case is found to be a SLAPP. Unfortunately, since there is little precedent with regard to Internet law, victims of CyberSLAPPs are vulnerable to abuse. In particular, there is no law requiring that an ISP notify an individual when someone subpoenas the ISP for the individual's identity. So your anonymity might be lost before you have a chance to protect it.\nSome ISPs, such as Yahoo, Earthlink, Microsoft and America Online do responsibly notify their customers when they receive subpoenas for customer information. A typical subpoena deadline is seven days. In those seven days, the individual can request that the deadline be extended while they seek legal counsel. The judge can deny the request, though, so even if your ISP notifies you immediately, you might not have time to protect your anonymity. If you are successful and you prove that the lawsuit was frivolous, you may be entitled to financial reimbursement for legal fees if your state has anti-SLAPP laws. A court has ruled, for example, that California's anti-SLAPP legislation applies to anonymous online speech.\nAnonymity is an indispensable component of free speech and democracy. The Internet is succeeding in globalizing democratic discourse, and our rights must be maintained in cyberspace as they are anywhere else. A coalition of public service groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Electronic Privacy Information Center and Public Citizen have sent a letter to over 100 ISPs asking that they develop privacy policies to ensure that an individual is notified when the ISP is subpoenaed for the individual's identity. For more information on the fight against CyberSLAPPs, visit the coalition's Web site at www.cyberslapp.org.