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Subject: Dankus follow-up story


Author:
Joey
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Date Posted: 12:51:11 12/16/03 Tue

Free speech on the Internet?
SHERRY LONG
The Ellis County Press
MIDLOTHIAN – Does the First Amendment apply to the Internet?
That is the question being asked by former registered members of a Midlothian-based forum, http://forums.dankus.net, who said administrators have overstepped their bounds by prohibiting users from publishing comments on web pages and other publications.
Following a story about “Ellis County students vs. Political Correctness” by The Ellis County Press reporter Joey Dauben, forum administrators of the forum have placed restrictions on what can and cannot be used from member posts.
While the discretion to approve or deny members rests with the administrator, T.J. Corley, a Midlothian High School graduate, restricting what others may copy and paste, or language that is threatening in nature, has been ruled by courts to be illegal.
A 1997 U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case of Reno vs. ACLU stated "no single organization controls any membership in the Web, nor is there any centralized point from which individual Web sites or services can be blocked from the Web."
Corley sent an email to members stating anything posted on the site becomes his property.
“ALL content on forums.dankus.net becomes property of Mr. T.J. Corley upon being submitted to the forum. ALL information, posts, threads, announcements, belong
to him, and CANNOT be copied, or printed, in ANY shape, form, or fashion, in ANY
other publication, newspaper, instant message, website, or email, without
consent from Corley, or a Dankus.net administrator.”
Former forum member Matt Riley said when he signed up for membership there was no such disclaimer.
Riley, a former freelance reporter for this newspaper, said Corley is breaking the law by “operating an Internet forum and stating he owns the rights to what anyone says on it. He fails to own the rights to the people's thoughts, words, expressions and therefore he cannot stop what someone says from being published.”
Earlier this year the 9th U.S. District Court of Appeals said freedom of speech applies to the Internet as well as traditional media outlets, but threatening speech applies both ways.
“There is no reason inherent in the technological features of cyberspace why First Amendment and defamation law should apply differently in cyberspace than in the brick and mortar world,” the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel said in an opinion written by Judge Marsha Berzon.
Anyone on the street, according to Ellis County Sheriff Lt. Danny Williams, that is offended by any speech, can file disorderly conduct charges or assault-by-threat charges. The same applies to Internet language, courts have ruled.
“I honestly don't think the people on the forum understand that what they say holds them responsible for their actions. It's just that simple. If they don't want it printed, don't post it,” Riley said.
Former forum member Julie Nitsch said she quit visiting the site because some of members were “childish bullies,” who were closed minded on any views that differed from theirs.
Dauben said he had been a member of the forum for over a year, and they “clearly knew” who he worked for and what he did.
“In fact, pretty much all they did was slam me and my paper, before and after the first article was published,” he said. “I received the quotes from my story after posting a thread [posts are called threads] specifically seeking comment for the story, so the ‘quoting out of context’ charges are totally out of line”
Because of the restrictions on new membership, Dauben has put selected samples of what has been said in response to the articles on his personal website, http://www.joeydauben.com/Dankus.htm. The issue has also spurred interest to create a web forum for all Ellis County citizens.
“Because of all the controversy surrounding the Dankus ordeal, the idea for this Ellis County forum would be for citizens to gather information, post information, strategize, and basically just network with other like-minded residents, in hopes of making some sort of positive change in Ellis County, without the feelings of being intimidated or threatened,” said Dauben, who estimates a forum would cost around $300.

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