It's not just Bush who trawls for your information - know and protect your online privacy rights

This post is mostly for my US readers and covers various resources for those who either suspect or know that their right to free speech online is being abused. In all the coverage and commentary about the Bush administration's unlawful behaviour both against foreign citizens and its own we tend to lose site of the fact that commercial organisations can and do file very dubious subpoenas against private citizens. Copyright holders can and do file subpoenas essentially as "fishing" expeditions. If you've been targetted in this way under American law there are two sites that you need to know about Subpoena Defense and Chilling Effect. Subpoena Defense "This site is a resource for individuals seeking information on how to defend themselves if their identity has been subpoenaed by a private third party seeking to enforce their copyrights on the Internet. It includes resources for those who have been sued or have received threat letters from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and other copyright holders." Full site here The second site "Chilling Effects" are linked via subpoena defense: Chilling Effects Clearinghouse 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. 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? If so, this site is for you. 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. The website offers background material and explanations of the law for people whose websites deal with topics such as Fan Fiction, Copyright, Domain Names and Trademarks, Anonymous Speech, and Defamation. Chilling Effect's page to report an abuse can be found here. Their FAQ page "Frequently Asked Questions (and Answers) about DMCA Subpoenas" can be found here. Finally don't forget the Electronic Frontier Foundation "EFF is a nonprofit group of passionate people — lawyers, technologists, volunteers, and visionaries — working to protect your digital rights." They can be found here.