#39;This is Pearl Harbor on the First Amendment
Legal analysts Alan Dershowitz and Jeffrey Toobin respond to movie theaters and SONY pulling the film "The Interview"
By: Cnn News Rt
Read this article:
'This is Pearl Harbor on the First Amendment - Video
Elijah P Lovejoy, First Amendment Rally, August 21, 2013
Sandra Dragoo is one of many speakers at this event. This video is copyrighted and portions may not be used without written permission.
By: Springfield Illinois Tea Party
Read more:
Elijah P Lovejoy, First Amendment Rally, August 21, 2013 - Video
The massive hack has raised questions about First Amendment rights, privacy and cyberwarfare. But there's a subtler issue at play when we look at all the news stories that have come from hacked inboxes: Why do we put this stuff in email?
Most of the news stories that came out of the Sony hack were based on info from the email inboxes of Sony executives. Sony Pictures
Every summer, Coye Cheshire teaches a workshop to incoming grad students on how to be smart and careful on social media.
The class, held in the School of Information at the University of California, Berkeley, involves letting students know the repercussions of posting things on networks like Facebook and Twitter. But Cheshire doesn't mention an online medium even more basic than social media: email.
"We sort of treat email as a given," said Cheshire. But after the high-profile hack against Sony Pictures Entertainment, which resulted in a leak of tens of thousands of internal emails, financial documents and other items, will he be sure to mention email specifically when he teaches the workshop again next summer?
"Absolutely," he said.
That's just one of the many impacts of the devastating hack, which has already spurred questions about everything from First Amendment rights to cyberwarfare to journalistic ethics. Looking past the marquee headlines, there's a subtler effect: As self-preservation kicks in, people may try to ensure their digital paper trails don't make them vulnerable targets.
The hack, revealed in late November, was carried out by a group that US authorities say is linked to North Korea. That country was upset by the "The Interview," a movie from Sony Pictures starring Seth Rogen and James Franco, about an assassination attempt on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Sony on Wednesday announced it was canceling the release of the movie amid threats of terrorism, though on Friday it said a release may still happen.
Inside the company, the hack has been devastating: Amy Pascal, head of Sony's film division and one of the most prominent women in Hollywood, watched as her email inbox was opened to the world and her emails made available for anyone to read. Among the trove of missives: an offensive joke shared with producer Scott Rudin about President Obama's taste in movies. Both of them quickly apologized.
Messages ranging from discussion about Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to new movie ideas to even a script for the latest James Bond film were dumped onto the Internet. And they were revealed by media outlets pouring over thousands of emails from the inboxes of Sony executives.
See the original post here:
The peculiar star of the Sony hack: Email
Mr. Anthony Verdi Mr. Nguyen Smith - First Amendment and the Role of Protest; Protest Art
Mr. Anthony Verdi Mr. Nguyen Smith - First Amendment and the Role of Protest; Protest Art.
By: Brian Innis
Link:
Mr. Anthony Verdi & Mr. Nguyen Smith - First Amendment and the Role of Protest; Protest Art - Video
A City of Charlotte fire investigator is out of a job because of a Facebook post in the aftermath of the Ferguson, Missouri riots. Its the first time a Charlotte city employee has been fired over a posting on social media. An attorney for the investigator says the city overreached.
So what are the First Amendment rights of public employees?
City Manager Ron Carlee says its essential the public is confident that city employees will treat all people with dignity and respect.
He believes Crystal Eschert violated that confidence shortly after police officer Darren Wilson shot and killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
Eschert is white. She referenced reports of another police shooting near Ferguson that said a white person was the victim. She wrote on her personal Facebook page:
Where is Obama? Where is Holder? Where is Al Sharpton? Where are Trayvon Martin's parents? Where are all the white guy supporters? So WHY is everyone MAKING it a racial issue?!? So tired of hearing its a racial thing. If you are a thug and worthless to society, its not race Youre just a waste no matter what religion, race or sex you are!
Eschert did not identify herself as a Charlotte Fire Department employee, but she was fired in September after someone emailed the post to city officials. Carlee says it was discriminatory and inflammatory.
Guy Charles has a different phrase for it. He co-directs Duke Universitys Center on Law, Race and Politics.
She said something that at best was racially insensitive, but on a public issue on a private page, says Charles. Between the hand that shes holding and the hand that the citys holding, I think Id prefer to have her hand.
If Eschert worked for a private employer, she wouldnt have a free speech case here since the First Amendment only applies to the government. But even though she has that protection, its not absolute.