ACLU, EFF and Others Defend WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks is getting big named legal representation to undo the attempted shutdown of the whistle blower site. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EEF) and others have filed a motion to disable the injunction on the site's domain. The ineffectiveness of the judges order is not in question (it didn't work) but the very idea that a dispute between a bank and employee can result in broad censorship of Internet content warrants action by the free speech advocates.
The EEF says on their Web site of this case:
"Dynadot's private agreement to disable access to its customer's domain name -- and the court's endorsement of that agreement -- raise serious First Amendment concerns," EFF Senior Staff Attorney Matt Zimmerman. "This unwarranted injunction should remind everyone who hosts critical information on the Web that such information may only remain accessible as long as your service provider or registrar is willing to stand up for you against obviously overreaching legal attacks."
More details on the case, including some legal documents, are available at http://www.eff.org/cases/bank-julius-baer-co-v-wikileaks.
Shutting down a entire Web site because of a dispute between two other parties is has all the precision of a surgeon wielding an ax. There should be some legal recourse for parties in disputes like this but they can't be so overreaching as to constitute broad censorship. A favorable ruling for Wikilieaks can't come soon enough.
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