I got this off the humbug mailing list... someone on this mailing list might be interested, so I'm forwarding it on: Folks, What follows is a re-post (with permission) of an email to EFA members on Friday. I encourage everyone to visit http://www.efa.org.au/ and consider joining Electronic Frontiers Australia, for your own sake. ----- Forwarded message from Dale Clapperton ----- Subject: EFA member update: Police Censorship Bill and Whirlpool Lawsuit Dear EFA Member, The last week has been an extremely busy one for EFA, so this is an opportune time to let you know what EFA has been doing to protect your rights, and the rights of all Australian Internet users. Yesterday, out of the blue, Senator Coonan introduced a Bill into the Senate that would give the Australian Federal Police sweeping and unchecked powers to block access to Internet material by decree, based on what the police 'believe' the purpose or effect of the material is. EFA is quite simply appalled by this Bill. It is an affront to the rule of law and will likely be used as a tool of political censorship by the police. Australia is not a police state and the police should not be the judge, jury, and executioner of Internet content. EFA has issued a media release about the Bill (http://www.efa.org.au/Publish/PR070920.html), which we expect to gain media attention in the coming days. Parliament may not sit again before the Federal election is called. This Bill is typical of the contempt with which the coalition treats the Internet and the rights of all Australians to be free of ill-conceived government censorship. Should the coalition be returned to power, this Bill is likely to become law. Remember these issues on election day. Last Tuesday brought news that a software vendor had sued the owner of popular Australian discussion forum whirlpool.net.au for "injurious falsehood". The software vendor, 2Clix Australia Pty Ltd, alleged that the owner of whirlpool had maliciously published false statements about 2Clix's software, with the intent of damaging their business. A number of EFA members contacted us to express their concern over the lawsuit. EFA made contact with Whirlpool and offered them whatever assistance we could provide. EFA also issued a press release (http://www.efa.org.au/Publish/PR070912.html) condemning the lawsuit, which created a considerable amount of media attention. I was interviewed by a number of journalists, including from Channel 7, who we understand are preparing a feature article on the lawsuit. EFA contacted a number of legal practitioners that we have existing relationships with, with a view to finding pro-bono representation for Whirlpool. We received an encouraging response, but thankfully this proved to be unnecessary. The overwhelming public backlash against 2Clix caused them to back-flip and announce that they would abandon the lawsuit. EFA issued a press release (http://www.efa.org.au/Publish/PR070919.html) welcoming this news. Although the paperwork to end the legal action has not yet been filed, 2Clix's solicitors have confirmed to Whirlpool that they are instructed to discontinue the action. This is a true victory for people power. Whirlpool is not alone in this type of fight. EFA knows of at least three other cases currently before the courts in which operators of discussion forums have been sued (for defamation, leaking confidential documents, and racial vilification) because of what third parties have posted on their forums. These actions are an attack on free speech, and on the infrastructure that permits members of the public to speak. Adverse results in these cases threatens the provision of discussion sites such as Whirlpool. Yet, the majority of these sites do not have 100,000 members to support them, or to make donations towards their legal costs. EFA plays a vital role in assisting people in this situation by attempting to find them pro-bono legal representation, and providing other assistance. We rely on your membership fees and donations to perform this vital work. In closing, I have established a personal blog at http://defendingscoundrels.com/ - the topics that I blog about may be of interest to many of you. We're proud to keep fighting the good fight on your behalf, and we appreciate your words of thanks. Dale Clapperton EFA Chairperson ----- End forwarded message ----- -- Ivan Lazar Miljenovic Ivan.Miljenovic@gmail.com