| Phillip wrote earlier about the saga involving Room 8 and the Bronx District Attorney. It is definitely a scary but true account of how the Internet and Internet media is treated differently than traditional media outlets.
The problem? It shouldn't be that way.
I have seen politicians (which DAs are in some places throughout New York, including my home county) try to muscle people who post on a message board on my local newspaper's website. I can recall a time where the DA expressed disgust with things posted that were critical (but true) of him online. Elected officials have done the same thing. I can't say they have ever gone that extra mile and tried to subpoena for IP addresses, but they have tried to get people to shut up.
So why is it that government feels that they can throw away the First Amendment as it relates to the Internet? What, do we not have free speech here on the Internet?
It would be another story if someone threatened the Bronx DA's life or another person's life on the Internet and tried to hide behind their anonymity. Then I could see the rationale behind it. But just being critical is not enough. If you can't stand the heat, get off the stove. That is what I have said publicly to the politicians that have complained about what I and other people have written. If you don't like being a public official and face public scrutiny, then you don't belong in politics and elected office. It's that simple.
Unfortunately, we have gone down similar roads before where "the law" has tried to push bloggers around. Remember Josh Wolf? Just go to Google and search "Blogger arrested." You will get a full list of stories on bloggers who have been arrested - about 3,900,000 results. That's not to say that 3,900,000 bloggers have been arrested, but enough bloggers have been arrested to make for 3,900,000 stories on such cases.
Free speech and freedom of the press need to be extended to the blogosphere. We cannot be limited by government just because we aren't members of the traditional media. We need to be protected too for reasons we have seen today. |
