Florida Governor Signs One Bill Protecting Free Speech... And Another That Undermines It
from the i-guess-they-balance-out?!? dept
On Thursday, Governor Rick Scott of Florida signed 44 bills into law, but two of them are particularly interesting to us. The first we wrote about back in March, SB 604, is a very problematic bill that undermines some basic free speech rights. It's the latest in a new push by Hollywood to undermine anonymity online as a backdoor attack on copyright infringement. Basically, it says that if you're distributing any sort of audiovisual work, you need to reveal who you are.The implications here are massive. There are lots of cases where someone may wish to post certain audiovisual works without having to post their full name, address, phone number and email address -- as the law now requires. And the First Amendment has long protected the right to be anonymous. And yet, the Florida legislature and Governor Scott signed it without much serious concern about how it's stripping away the First Amendment anonymity rights of their citizens.
Oddly, however, in that very same batch of signed bills... is another bill that protects free speech rights: SB 1312, which expands Florida's (very, very weak) anti-SLAPP law. Like too many states, Florida's anti-SLAPP law originally only protected people in cases where they were sued over speech concerning government actions. The new bill expands that to "public issues" which is similar to many other anti-SLAPP bills. Considering the number of crazy defamation threats and lawsuits that seem to come out of Florida, this bill could be very, very useful in protecting free speech.
Getting the anti-SLAPP bill is really important, but losing anonymity seems really dangerous. These aren't just the sort of things that "balance out" either. Either you support the First Amendment or you don't. I'm glad that Florida has a better anti-SLAPP bill, but Governor Scott shouldn't have taken away basic First Amendment protections with the same stroke of his pen in signing the "true origin" bill at the same time.
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Filed Under: anonymity, anti-slapp, copyright, first amendment, florida, free speech, rick scott, true origin
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Also, the injunctive relief part only mentions "an owner, assignee, authorized agent, or licensee" as being able to be aggrieved by a violation of the act. So no one has to identify themselves if they post their own material unless they're afraid they're going to sue themselves.
This indicates clearly that the supposed consumer protection justification for this act is bullshit because consumers can't be aggrieved by a violation, only IP owners can.
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Not All recordings
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Just an illegal post
Rick Scott isn't the sharpest tool in the drawer, but he is a tool.
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How the hell...
(If Florida is like my area there's a time limit that the governor has to either sign or veto the bill once it gets to them. Sometimes I think that time limit is too short.)
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Re: How the hell...
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Since nobody in Florida makes movies anyway...
No more anonymous YouTube for you, buddy!
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Re: Since nobody in Florida makes movies anyway...
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Thankfully the state can't strip first amendment rights
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Do they actually read what they sign? Doubt it
Sir: "Uh OK."
Aid #2: "Sir, sign here please"
Sir: "Uh OK"
Other Sir: "Which do you believe in, A or B?"
Sir: "Uh OK. Say, when's lunch, since I'm not paying for it..."
Other Sirs: "Ha, anytime we want, as long as we want, as much as we want"
Sir: "Uh OK."
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FL SLAPP Victim
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Anti-SLAPP Bill Has Surprise Buried Therein
File your anti-SLAPP motion. Lose, perhaps because the judge is reluctant to grant judgment that early in the case. The SLAPPer is now entitled to fees.
Not the first time, and probably not the last, but I have to remind people how close Tallahassee is to Chattahoochee. Or maybe, with work product like this, I do not have to remind people because it is fairly obvious.
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