ChillingEffects.org

Stanford students work with other law schools to develop an on-line legal resource for Internet publishers. Students are responsible for maintaining relevant and current information for fan fiction writers, web sites that report on video game copyright infringement, artists that use found objects, images and sounds, anonymity and anyone concerned about the line between property and creativity. The chillingeffects.org site collects cease and desist letters submitted by site visitors and students review the letters and annotate them, giving readers substantive legal information about the letters in the form of FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions). This on-going project launched in February 2002 and has received much favorable news coverage.

State AG Threats To Craigslist Implicate Free Speech

by Ryan Calo, posted on May 19, 2009 - 2:33pm

This post is co-authored by Ryan Calo and CIS summer intern Joshua Auriemma.

On Saturday Night Live’s classic segment “Really?!? With Seth & Amy,” two incredulous news anchors blast a ridiculous current event—for instance, the fact that AIG held a lavish retreat six days after receiving 85 billion dollars in federal bailout money to celebrate the company’s top earners. “Really?” Amy Poehler asks. “What does it take to be a top earner at AIG right now? Did you sell your office furniture on Craigslist?”

Some lawyers following the ultimately successful pressure placed by various state attorneys general on Craigslist to take down its erotic services section have experienced a “Really?!?” moment of their own. A particularly unsubtle letter from South Carolina AG Henry McMaster basically threatened Craigslist with "criminal investigation and prosecution" of its management personnel if the popular classifieds website didn’t remove all offending material by 5:00PM, Friday, May 15, 2009.

Substantive Tags: free speech
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