US bloggers get legal aid
By Bala Shah

The internet has done much to democratize the world. Even totalitarian regimes have realized that net savvy citizens can reach out to the rest of the world. But this free flow of ideas and opinions do not go down well with traditional power structures.  Some old school politicians and businesses are unhappy at losing control over their monopoly markets.

So, how do these old school politicians, businesses and other power structures react?  Some change to the brave new world.  Others use the judicial system to try to get their own way.

Every month at least two Indian websites/blogs take down posts because they receive legal threats, and even though these blogs are in the right they cannot afford to hire lawyers. Techgoss itself has received two legal threats. When we expressed our willingness to get the matter decided in court, the legal threats were withdrawn.

America, with all its faults, is a role model in these matters.  Its constitution guarantees free speech.  The American Electronic Frontier Foundation has some of the best lawyers in the country who volunteer their time to protect the digital rights of citizens.  The Electronic Frontier Foundation has even corrected Wikipedia when it made the mistake of monopolizing some data.

Now there is another American organization - Online Media Legal Network (OMLN) – to provide free/subsidized help to American bloggers. It describes itself as a “legal referral service that connects qualifying online journalism ventures and digital media creators with lawyers willing to provide legal services on a pro bono or reduced-fee basis. OMLN supports promising ventures and innovative thinkers in online and digital media by providing access to legal help that would otherwise be unavailable.”

OMNL is a heavy weight legal organization as it is backed by Harvard University.

We will see such organizations in India in the next few years.