Brrrr...Berkman Center & EFF Collaborate on "Chilling Effects"

The Filter
Berkman Center for Internet & Society

July 23, 2001

How often do legal threats silence lawful Internet activity? Cease-and-desist notices can be powerful tools against those who lack the legal know-how and resources to fight back. The Berkman Center has partnered with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) to create a Chilling Effects Clearinghouse for analysis and response to these legal threats. Through the Chilling Effects website, we will invite Internet users to submit C&D notices they have received (or sent), and will develop a database of analyses of the letters' claims explaining their legal grounding—or lack thereof. The database will also support research into the effect of legal threats to chill lawful activity and, conversely, the extent to which unlawful activity on the Net proves resistant to legal action.

Follow the below URL to view the Berkman Center's prototype Chilling Effects website, now under development.

http://www.chillingeffects.org

Copyright 2001 http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/filter/072301/main.html