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Chilling Effects Cease & Desist Clearinghouse

Posted by Hemos on from the good-idea dept.

Wendy Seltzer writes: "The Berkman Center for Internet & Society, EFF, and other major law school clinics have launched ChillingEffects.org to combat the chilling effect of Cease & Desist letters with ungrounded legal threats. (Slashdot readers got a site preview in the story on the Bnetd Cease & Desist, already in our database.) If you have received a Cease & Desist, we invite you to add it to the database, where law students will analyze the legalese and annotate the C&Ds with Frequently Asked Questions and answers. The site already offers several sets of general legal FAQs."

5 of 192 comments (clear)

  1. excellent by prizzznecious · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is exactly what the internet is for: obscure information easily available to the masses. Be sure to tell your friends etc., as the only way the internet can remain a free place is through active individual self-education. A disturbingly low number of people actually read things like the DMCA or cease and desist letters; we need to be smarter and more aggressive if we want to stay free.

    --

    visit the hwky website for a lyrical genius infusion.
  2. It's Nice To See by lblack · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's nice to see that after all the talk and jokes about open-sourcing the law, that it is happening.

    Is this that much different from submitting a patch to a peer-maintenance group and having it reviewed by various persons of various qualifications? Or from submitting an Ask Slashdot, for that matter.

    I've been involved with businesses that have been threatened by letters about various things. Upon receiving the first of those letters, I started expanding my knowledge of legalese, law application, etc. A lot of google and a few dead trees later, and I'm much more informed... and can now spot the bullshit much easier than I once could.

    This database should provide a short circuit, so that people can quickly learn about things that pertain to them, and get assistance on resolving them.

    I think this sort of idea is important to free speech in an increasingly corporate medium. It's heartening to see that people care enough to actually devote their time to it.

    -l

  3. put where your mouth is your money by geckoFeet · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Join the eff already. No more excuses.



    /. readers have had another prequel to this with the attack of Barney, the purple Tyrannosaurus rex.

  4. Re:I agree completely by smack.addict · · Score: 5, Insightful
    This is not civil disobedience, it is common thievery.


    Civil disobedience would be to copy your DVD's and store them in a safe space as backups.


    Civil disobedience would be to use Microsoft Office on your laptop and desktop.


    In other words, civil disobedience is doing things that might be illegal but still carry the full force of morality. Your acts are both illegal and immoral.

  5. Re:Good idea by smack.addict · · Score: 4, Insightful

    That's actually quite false, though it is a common European misconception. Our problem is that we are a country that too quickly moves our problems into the courtroom. A C&D letter does not actually imply that the person sending it has any legal case; it simply means they took the time to try to intimidate you into believing they do.