Work Boxers

Chilling Effects Clearinghouse

by mark on November 18th, 2007

Motivated by this article: “Some retailers try to suppress Web scoops on prices,” I offer this information to those who might not know and a link to a possibly important web site, the Chilling Effects Clearinghouse.

Try answering these questions if you’ve had similar experiences;

• Do you know your online rights?

• Have you received a letter asking you to remove information from a Web site or to stop engaging in an activity?

• Are you concerned about liability for information that someone else posted to your online forum?

“Chilling Effects aims to help you understand the protections that the First Amendment and intellectual property laws give to your online activities. We are excited about the new opportunities the Internet offers individuals to express their views, parody politicians, celebrate their favorite movie stars, or criticize businesses. But we’ve noticed that not everyone feels the same way. Anecdotal evidence suggests that some individuals and corporations are using intellectual property and other laws to silence other online users. Chilling Effects encourages respect for intellectual property law, while frowning on its misuse to “chill” legitimate activity.”

I’ve known of the EFF for quite some time and have seen them involved in some valuable efforts to avoid the results of unscrupulous individuals and obnoxious, self-centered businesses/corporations. The others will be self-explanatory;

The Chilling Effects Clearinghouse is “a joint project of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, University of San Francisco, University of Maine, George Washington School of Law, and Santa Clara University School of Law clinics.”

For my own personal gratification and posterity (I’d like to be able to come back to refer to this article in a month or two) I’m posting this link about “Closeout Racks Overflowing For Holidays” because, for what seems like the umpteenth time my dirt job has been threatened by a retailer who simply refuses to pay attention to the entire rest of the known world and doesn’t believe that;

“Unseasonably warm early fall weather and shoppers worried about the economy left stores with unsold merchandise taking up sales floor space heading into the crucial holidays.”

This thought is also foreign;

“To move merchandise and free up rack space, some retailers are offering sales and running special promotions earlier than usual before the traditional kickoff to holiday shopping on the day after Thanksgiving.”

Meanwhile, myself and many of the other good folks working here are the problem! Not! The day will come when I will shout their name from rooftops…

Related Stories

POSTED IN: Web Happenings, Web News