NP 2.0 Blog: Posts

Supreme Court Grants Stay of Web Broadcast of Proposition 8 Trial

Hickman, Benjamin — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 18:35:33 GMT

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The Supreme Court's opinion is split 5-4, with Justices Scalia, Roberts, Kennedy, Alito, and Thomas in the majority, and Justices Breyer, Ginsburg, Sotomayor, and Stevens in the dissent. The majority opinion is unsigned and the dissent is written by Justice Breyer.

The majority claimed that its opinion had nothing to do with its substantive view on the broadcasting of trials. Rather, the Court said, its decision is based on whether the District Court properly amended its local rules to allow the proposed broadcast. Many observers, however, are searching for deeper meaning in the opinion, speculating that it is Freudian read on the Justices' views on cameras in the courtroom or even on same-sex marriage.

Regardless of whether the observers are correct, it is hard not to notice how the Justices drafted their statements of facts in the respective opinions. The majority painted Judge Walker's approval as an eleventh-hour attempt to fast-track a controversial rule amendment without a chance for public comment. The dissent portrayed the rule amendment as one that had been publicly anticipated for years, and pointed out that thousands of people had already submitted comments on the proposed amendment.

In any event, it appears that the Courrt has quashed broadcasting of the Proposition 8 trial.

Category: Internet Law;Media Law

Published: 1/19/2010 1:23 PM

District Judge Allows Broadcast of Proposition 8 Trial on YouTube; Supreme Court Temporarily Stays Order

Hickman, Benjamin — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 23:46:53 GMT

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The landmark trial testing the constitutionality of Proposition 8, California's ban on same-sex marriage, might also turn out to be a test of whether trials may be streamed on the Internet.

In an order issued on January 8, Chief Judge Vaughn Walker of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California allowed the trial, which started today, to be streamed on YouTube on a time-delay basis: Each day's proceedings could be broadcast after proceedings concluded for the day. Judge Walker also permitted the trial to be simulcast at several federal courthouses around the country, including those in Los Angeles, Portland, Oregon, and Brooklyn. Judge Walker relied on a recent decision from the Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit to allow a pilot program for the limited use of cameras in courtrooms in the Ninth Circuit.

The Supreme Court, however, ordered a temporary stay of Judge Walker’s order this morning. The Supreme Court’s stay remains in effect until Wednesday at 4 p.m. eastern time “[t]o permit further consideration in this Court,” which suggests that the Supreme Court will be weighing in with a more thorough treatment of the issue. Justice Breyer, the only Justice to dissent from the temporary stay, stated that while he supported the limited duration of the stay, he believed the stay should not foreclose broadcasting of proceedings at other courthouses and that the papers filed “do not show a likelihood of irreparable harm.”

At its outset, the trial is already playing out in true California style, with celebrity lawyers representing the challengers of Proposition 8 (Ted Olson and David Boies) and Judge Walker, known for his maverick style, behind the bench.

Category: Internet Law;Media Law

Published: 1/11/2010 6:08 PM

President Appoints Howard Schmidt as White House Cybersecurity Coordinator

Hickman, Benjamin — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 23:03:51 GMT

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After a months-long search for the new White House Cybersecurity Coordinator, President Obama has chosen Howard Schmidt, a cybersecurity veteran in public and private sectors. Read more about the appointment and listen to Schmidt's video greeting here. Cnet provides analysis on the Schmidt appointment here.

When the White House completed its cybersecurity review earlier this year, President Obama proclaimed that the country--both private and public sectors--are inadequately prepared to deal with the multitude of threats to the cyber-infrastructure. He acknowledged that the inadequacy stems, in large part, from a lack of coordination and turf wars among government agencies and between the public and private sectors. He promised to create a position for a person to better coordinate the public and private sectors' approach to cybersecurity.

Schmidt's background appears to be ideal for the task: His CV includes service in the Air Force, the George W. Bush White House, Microsoft, and eBay. Schmidt has his work cut out for him, though. Coordinating government agencies is always a tall order, and businesses have already expressed concern about the government's proposed involvement in the private sector, including requiring private network operators to report cybersecurity incidents to the government.

Indeed, Schmidt's title is telling. People in similar positions have been called "czars" in the past. As a "coordinator," Schmidt is likely to have a full plate simply persuading others to work with one another on the same page.

Category: Cyber Security;Legislation and Policy;Internet Law

Published: 12/22/2009 5:45 PM

Countries Are Still Negotiating ACTA, Still Keeping It Secret

Hickman, Benjamin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:55:09 GMT

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The Washington Post's personal technology columnist, Rob Pegoraro, provided an update this week on negotiations of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement ("ACTA"), a multilateral agreement that we have chronicled in this blog before. The update, however, is that we do not have an update because the terms of the agreement are still secret.

Obama Administration officials are negotiating ACTA as an executive agreement rather than a treaty, which means that the Senate does not have to ratify it. The Obama Administration, like the Bush Administration, has kept the terms of the agreement and the negotiations secret on national security grounds.

Electronic Frontier Foundation has attempted to learn more about ACTA through FOIA requests. But despite the Obama Administration's claim that it intends to move toward more transparent governance, little is still known about the agreement. As the Post's Pegoraro writes, it is believed that ACTA would incorporate the anti-circumvention provisions in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, thereby exporting the DMCA's owner-friendly paradigm abroad. What remains to be seen, however, is whether ACTA could result in an importation of even more draconian law.

Category: Intellectual Property;Legislation and Policy

Published: 11/20/2009 9:20 AM