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(Feb. 28. 2002 | San Francisco) Students from The University of San Francisco School of Law are joining the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and law students from Harvard, Stanford and the University of California-Berkeley in launching a new website designed to give Internet users information about their legal rights (www.chillingeffects.org). Specifically, the project, which made its debut Monday, February 25th, will help users threatened with "cease and desist" letters, which are being used to stifle free expression on the Internet.
For example, in one case, University of San Francisco students analyze a cease and desist letter the Republican Party of Texas sent challenging the legality of a website named "EnronOwnsTheGOP." Students at the USF School of Law's Internet and Intellectual Property Justice Project reviewed the letter and annotated it with links to explain applicable legal rules.
One of the USF portions of the website deals with "Protest, Parody and Criticism." This section includes cease and desist letters written over such icons as Barney the Dinosaur and Jerry Falwell. Other parts of the website, maintained by the four-university collaboration provide basic legal information on issues like fan fiction, copyright and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, trademark and domain names, anonymous speech, and defamation. New topics will be added as new issues arise.
"This is a great opportunity to bring together resources from various universities to provide a much needed service to the worldwide community of people who use the Internet legitimately," said University of San Francisco professor Bob Talbot, director of University of San Francisco School of Law Internet and Intellectual Property Justice Project "It is also a wonderful chance to collaborate with some other remarkable law schools, to give students practical experience on the cutting edge of cyber law and to put them into a network of service learning with other law students."
"The Internet makes it easier for individuals to speak to a wide audience, but it also makes it easier for other people and corporations to silence that speech," said Wendy Seltzer, a Berkman Center Fellow at Harvard University and the project's creator. "Chilling Effects aims to level the field by helping online speakers to understand their rights in the face of legal threats."
The four law schools in the project are working closely with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a leading civil liberties organization working to protect rights in the digital world.
In addition to publishing cease-and-desist letters, the Chilling Effects team will offer periodic "weather reports" assessing the legal climate for Internet activity. The reports will seek to answer such questions as what types of Internet activity are most vulnerable to legal threats.
The Internet and Intellectual Property Justice Project at the University of San Francisco School of Law provides legal services to those needing help with intellectual property matters. The Project currently helps in domain name disputes as well as with other trademark and copyright work. Legal work is performed free of charge by students under the direction of faculty members.
For more information, call Robert Talbot, Professor of Law and Director of University of San Francisco School of Law Internet and Intellectual Property Justice Project at work (415) 422-6218 or cell (415) 717-2826.
Other contacts:
Cindy Cohn
Legal Director, Electronic Frontier Foundation
(415) 436-9333, x108
Wendy Seltzer
Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School
(212) 715-7815
Jennifer Stisa Granick
Law School Center for Internet and Society at Stanford University
(650) 724-0014
Deirdre Mulligan
U.C. Berkeley's Technology and Public Policy Clinic
(510) 642-0499
Diane Cabell
Clinical Program in Cyberlaw
Harvard Law School
(617) 495-7574
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