Free Lawyers To Protect Scofflaws
Yep, that is a good description of the “Legal Assistance Network for Online Journalists” just launched by our friends at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard. Calling it a “legal safety net” and an attempt to “level the playing field for independent online producers” (citizen journalists), the new organization will provide “pro bono (free) and reduced fee legal assistance” in litigation defense. Cutting through all the fluff, this project will defend “citizen journalists” when they cross the line and participate in, condone, and support online attacks that threaten the reputations and well-being of you, your loved ones, and your small businesses all across the US. It is funded by the journalism interests in the online and digital media arena, ranging from foundations to bloggers to multi-national news aggregators. So, don’t kid yourself. This is a defense organization that is preparing to fight for those “citizen journalists” who create many of the problems we face in fending off online attacks by miscreants and scofflaws. The major funding came from the Knight Foundation…known for handing out over $300 Million to advance journalism quality and “Freedom of Expression”.
Okay, with the ACLU, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Public Citizen and now this group, it looks like online citizen journalists are pretty well protected from having to answer for their actions.
So, what help is available to the mom, the local church, your high school teacher, that youth sports coach, your local restaurant, the insurance agent, friendly cop, and everyone else who comes under attack by the scofflaws who frequent the establishments of these citizen journalists as invited guests and spew hatred, attacks, and venom?
I think you know the answer.
