Daily Archives: October 23, 2014

What Does the First Amendment Mean to You?
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What Does the First Amendment Mean to You? - Video

All-Class Lecture: Political Corruption and the First Amendment
Tim Wu, the Isidor and Seville Suzbacher Professor of Law at Columbia Law School and newly appointed head of the Poliak Center at Columbia Graduate School of Journalism discusses the ...

By: Columbia Journalism School

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All-Class Lecture: Political Corruption and the First Amendment - Video

Pro-life protestors had planned to put a JumboTron outside the Alamo with abortion images on it, but the City of San Antonio shut down the protest Wednesday morning. Demonstrators said it's a violation of their First Amendment rights.

Protestors have put up a JumboTron with abortion images in other cities already and Love of Truth ministries said they cleared a permit with the City of San Antonio to do so a month ago. It wasn't until Tuesday night that the City said the demonstration violates a sign ordinance.

"Part of the permit, which would have enabled them to put a JumboTron on the plaza, was revoked this morning," said San Antonio Police Chief William McManus.

"If we were going to preform abortion today the city would allow that, cause that's legal, but showing it, somehow they're finding a way to find that against the law," said Mark Harrington, national director of Created Equal that was co-hosting the protest.

Harrington said now his organization has two causes to fight for; the end of abortion and first amendment rights.

"Unpopular speech is the reason the First Amendment was written to begin with. It protects disturbing, unpopular, offensive speech," said Harrington.

Several people visiting the Alamo Wednesday said they had differing opinions on whether the JumboTron should be allowed.

"When people don't have the choice whether to see those images or not, I don't think that's right," said Shannon Thomas who was at the Alamo Wednesday.

"I think they should be allowed to do what they were permitted for, and I think it's just the government trying to squelch anything that has to do with religion, or anything faith based," said Ava Tanner who was also visiting the Alamo.

"I don't necessarily agree with their tactics, but I do believe that to a certain extent it's protected by the First Amendment," said Lyndon Lee, another Alamo visitor.

Originally posted here:
San Antonio tells pro-life protestors they can't use JumboTron at Alamo

San Francisco, CA - infoZine - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), along with reddit and the Internet Archive, filed formal comments with the New York State Department of Financial Services opposing the state's proposed regulations for digital currencies such as Bitcoin. In the letter, EFF argues that on top of damaging privacy and harming innovation, New York's "BitLicense" regulatory scheme also risks infringing on First Amendment rights to freedom of expression and association.

The State of New York is currently considering BitLicense, a sprawling regulatory framework that would mandate licenses for a wide range of companies in the digital currency space. The regulations would force applicants to submit significant personal information to the state, including fingerprints and head-shot photographs. The policy would also require these companies to maintain detailed records about all transactions for 10 years, including identity data of users.

EFF notes that digital currency protocols are used for more than just paymentsthey have expressive and associational uses, too. Bitcoin-like systems are used for organizing and engaging with groups or communities. In addition, Bitcoin block chains frequently contain political speech, such as famous quotes and portraits of prominent historical figures. As currently written, EFF argues, the BitLicense regulations place an unacceptable burden on free speech and association.

"The courts have long recognized that code is speech protected by the First Amendment," EFF Special Counsel Marcia Hofmann said. "At their core, digital currency protocols are code. Attempts to regulate code must include robust protections to ensure constitutionally protected speech is not stifled, and the BitLicense proposal would undermine those First Amendment principles."

On Oct. 15, EFF launched an online activism campaign encouraging Internet users to oppose the BitLicense proposal by submitting comments to the New York State Department of Financial Services.

Excerpt from:
EFF, Internet Archive, and Reddit Oppose New York's BitLicense Proposal