Chilling Effects

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Chilling Effects
Motto Monitoring the legal climate for Internet activity
Formation 2001
Type Web site
Location San Francisco, California
Official languages English
Founder Wendy Seltzer
Key people Diane Cabell, Berkman Fellow
DePaul University College of Law
EFF
George Washington University Law School
Samuelson Law, Technology and Public Policy Clinic
Santa Clara University, School of Law High Tech Law Institute
Stanford Center for Internet & Society
University of Maine School of Law
USF Law School, IIP Justice Project
Website http://chillingeffects.org/

Chilling Effects is a collaborative archive created by several law school clinics and the Electronic Frontier Foundation to protect lawful online activity from legal threats. Its website, Chilling Effects Clearinghouse, allows recipients of cease-and-desist notices to submit them to the site and receive information about their legal rights and responsibilities. It was created by Wendy Seltzer.

Contents

[edit] Inception

The archive was founded in late 2001 by Internet activists who were concerned that the unregulated private practice of sending cease and desist letters seemed to be increasing and was having an unstudied but potentially significant "chilling effect" on speech.

The archive got a significant boost when Google began submitting its notices in 2002. Google began to do so in response to the publicity generated when the Church of Scientology convinced Google to remove references and links to the anti-Scientology Web site Operation Clambake in April 2002. The incident inspired vocal Internet users and groups to complain to Google, and the links to the Clambake site were restored. Google subsequently began to contribute its notices to chillingeffects.org, archiving the Scientology complaints and linking to the archive.[1][2]

Since 2002, researchers have been using the clearinghouse to study the use of cease-and-desist letters, primarily looking at DMCA 512 takedown notices, non-DMCA copyright, and trademark claims.[3][4]

[edit] Members

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Don Marti, "Google Begins Making DMCA Takedowns Public," Linux Journal (2002/4/12) (describing Google's response to the Scientologists and subsequent decision to contribute to ChillingEffects.org).
  2. ^ Gallagher, David F. (2002-04-22). New Economy; A copyright dispute with the Church of Scientology is forcing Google to do some creative linking. New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  3. ^ J. Urban & L. Quilter, "Efficient Process or 'Chilling Effects'? Takedown Notices Under Section 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act," Santa Clara Computer & High Technology Law Journal (March 2006)
  4. ^ Free Expression Policy Project, (PDF) "Will Fair Use Survive? Free Expression in the Age of Copyright Control" (2005).

[edit] External links