At 2:54 PM -0400 7/17/00, Sunder wrote: >http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/1/11986.html > >Reno DoJ pressures journalist to nail hackers >By: Thomas C Greene in Washington >Posted: 17/07/2000 at 17:57 GMT > > >The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has taken its hacker witch-hunt to new >lows by ordering Forbes Magazine reporter Adam Penenberg to testify before >a federal grand jury in connection with a 1998 article he wrote on >computer enthusiasts 'Slut Puppy' and 'Master Pimp', who allegedly broke >into the New York Times Web site and disabled it for nine hours. > >While it would be extravagant to expect the Reno DoJ or the FBI to behave >in a remotely honourable fashion where the US Constitution is concerned, >we routinely expect such behaviour of publishers. A number of years ago I concluded, as many others have as well, that the Constitution does not provide any special protections for "journalists." The First Amendment, which is central to this issue, says that government may not use prior restraint on speech or prohibit speech. This of course means that the government, federal or more local, may not tell newspapers what they may publish, and so on. However, why does J. Randome Reporter have any more protection against subpoenas than I do, for example? Where in the Constitution does it say that our friend Declan McCullagh is exempt from court actions which Bill Stewart or Eric Hughes would be vulnerable to? I certainly believe fishing expeditions to find out sources of stories are a slippery slope. But if there is a criminal investigation and a person is called to testify before a court, there should be no special "shield law" (as it's usually called) for reporters. The First Amendment does not single out reporters. In fact, I interpret the First to mean that government may _not_ decide who's a "legitimate reporter" and who's not, anymore than the First would allow government to decide which religions are "valid" and which are not. If Declan is covered by a shield law and cannot be compelled to reveal his sources, then Tim May and Alfred E. Newman are also reporters and are likewise protected. --Tim May -- ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, ComSec 3DES: 831-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, "Cyphernomicon" | black markets, collapse of governments.
