Berkman Buzz: July 12, 2013

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DMLP files brief seeking First Amendment scrutiny in United States v. Auernheimer

Yesterday the Digital Media Law Project, with help from the Cyberlaw Clinic, filed an amicus brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in United States v. Auernheimer, arguing that the First Amendment prohibits the government from punishing Auernheimer’s disclosure of true, newsworthy information. The case is on appeal from the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, which found Andrew “Weev” Auernheimer guilty of felony charges under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) and federal identity theft law.

From the Digital Media Law Project, "DMLP files brief seeking First Amendment scrutiny in United States v. Auernheimer" About the DMLP | @dmlpberkman

Deepest harm of PRISM may be not the surveillance itself but the destruction of rule-of-law (FISA) & whistle-blower protections (Snowden). >—Zeynep Tufekci (@zeynep)

Ethan Zuckerman considers surveillance, sousveillance, and PRISM

Revelations about the extent of the US government’s surveillance of digital media has triggered a range of reactions around the world. In the world outside the US, citizens and their governments are rightly furious that the National Security Agency is systematically monitoring communications on some of the world’s most widely used communications platforms. That the US apparently spies on its closest allies in EU offices merely adds insult to injury. The reaction within the US to these revelations has been disappointingly subdued. Civil libertarians and advocates for free speech online are struggling to productively channel their anger and are planning a major protest in Washington DC on July 4. But more widespread responses include a nodding acceptance of any invasion of privacy in exchange for prevention of terrorist violence, and a cynical, world-weary insistenc</