Comments on: The freedom to disallow speech in cyberspace

Attorney Eric Sinrod says tech industry escaped a close call that might have imposed shackles on search engines and Internet service providers.

[fredtheviking]

Corporate Control

Hmmmm... I find the judgment to be somewhat troublesome. Google is a large corporate organization, it has a lot more power than an individual or say even a single supermarket has. To say that Google has the right to disallow people to advertise their viewpoints on their search engine; I believe undermines the purpose of first amendment. What if Google effective control almost all forms of media... arguable Google could effective suppress one right to free speech. Or Google, Microsoft, and other companies could band together to effective dictate what forms of speech is allowed and not allowed. I don?t trust corporation to be responsible in such action. I sincerely hope a higher court overrules this decision.

[ddesy]

Not so black and white

I don't think that this judgment is that troublesome. An advertisement can often be seen as a reflection of a company?s values. Much like individuals, companies have a right to say what they want to and not say what they don?t want to.

If the issues had been Google denying a listing rather than an ad, then I could see a problem. A listing is nothing more than sorted data collected for searching. The listings do not necessarily represent the values of the company providing the listings, so there is less potential impact on the company.

As long as Google et al aren?t trying to censor listings, I don?t see much of a problem. Had this been the case, I think that the courts might have seen things differently.

[umbrae]

An example...

Let say you sell your car as an advertising medium. I.E. Paint the car with a billboard.

Would you like to drive around town with an abortion , or some other sensitive or possibly offensive ad on it? If this is over turned, then by "denying" this ad you would be breaking the First Amendment.

Regardless of your view on the abortion issue, this type of ad could be damaging to you. You could have the car vandalised, you could be assaulted or shot. Free Speech is just as much about what you say as what you don't. Even Corporations have the right to say no.

[sumwatt]

No Surprise on Verdict

"The portion of the decision I found most interesting was the judge's finding that the defendant search engines have First Amendment rights not to run the plaintiff's advertisements."

The Constitution, the bedrock of American government, contains 10 amendments or the Bill of Rights which enumerate certain rights that government can not infringe upon. The Bill of Rights, in no way, deals with so-called infringement of rights of individuals or organizations. Meaning, government can take no action to abridge those freedoms. It doesn't mean they can not happen outside of the scope of government between private citizens and organizations but that government can not take any action to corrupt those rights.

If domains are treated as private property on the Internet, the owner of that property maintains the right to do with his or her property as he or she pleases - including discriminate, censor, and set all rules to his or her own wishes. It is somewhat akin to the Castle Doctrine applied to intangible assets that exist as bits of data. Anyone who has run a public forum has set rules for those forums. We see them every day - those are the rules established by the owner of the property.

Violators are often banned for trolling, spamming, and a littany of other annoyances the owner has declared "illegal" on their site. But to a degree, most services play loose and fast, extending many natural rights to individuals as possible while maintaining some control over their piece of the Internet. If Google or Yahoo refuse to run an ad, they refuse to run an ad - they have no implied obligation to run an advertisement especially if that advertisement may have serious repercussions on their business structure. This is why they have exception clauses in their agreements - to protect their rights as property owners and establish their power on their property.

This is a great article that points out many of the problems that arise when people misinterpret how the Bill of Rights is applied outside the scope of government (they generally do not apply).

[Bob H in NPR]

Free Speech or Free Property?

Every form of publication - whether magazines, newspapers, books, dictionaries & encyclopedias, TV & radio stations & networks, PBS & NPR, you name it - has the right to accept or deny any advertising, article, opinion/letter to the editor & to edit anything they do print. They also have the right to offer or not any "link" to whatever they please. The right given to them & us is the right not to have the government dictate what can & cannot be said. We have no free speech rights against another person or organization under the Constitution.

Thus, Google is going beyond what they need to, allowing anyone to post a link/listing. About 2 years ago, AOL limited listings from Google to their subscribers according to their own opinions, which they have the right to do. Google chooses not to do that. I also have the right to squeal on AOL & suggest people use Google as their search engine. My First Amendment right.

The judge is absolutely right in his decision.

[zemoxian]

Mall or Shopping center?

AFAIK, if someone brought their soap box to a mall or shopping center and mall management didn't care for what was being said, they have the right to send security to escort them out.

This being a case of ads, however, this is more like wanting your ad to be in one of those back lit billboards. I think few people would demand those as part of a right to free speech.

[btljooz]

Can YOU say CENSORSHIP?........

See for YOURSELF!!!!! ;)

Try this on for size:

Go to Yahoo Search and type in "US Constitution Bill of Rights" ...Minus the "s of course. See what you get?????

NOW, go to Google Search and use the EXACT SAME search phrase. See what you get??????

Then do the same with MSN and any others you want to. See what you get?????

THAT is PROOF in the puddding as to what is going on.