Narco News 2001
Department of Defense
The
Drug War on Trial
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Narco News
Beats Banamex!
Now on the EFF website:
Read the Court's
Historic Decision
It will be in Law School Textbooks
for Generations to Come
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From the...
"Media Ignores Precedent-
Setting Court Decision"
By Tom Regan
Christian Science Monitor
Newspaper Editorial:
Free Speech on
the Internet
By Freedom Newspapers, Inc.
del Diaro Por Esto! de 17 diciembre...
Entérense de la Historia de la
Derrota de Banamex-Citigroup
From the...
Victory, Precedent,
...and a Countersuit
By Dan Kennedy
Nesson: "The NY Times v.
Sullivan for the Internet"
Landmark Ruling
By Mark Anderson
Wired.com
NY State Supreme Court
Rules vs. "Narco Banker"
EFF: Historic Decision
Protects Online Speech
"Narco News is... entitled
to Heightened Protection" "This court finds that Narco News is a media defendant and is entitled to heightened protection under the First Amendment (Sullivan v. New York Times)...
"The Internet is similar to a television and radio broadcast in the sense that the electronic missive is able to reach a large and diverse audience almost instananeously... However, the character of a particular website depends on the format and program design... A careful review of defendants' submission on Narco News's website indicates that the Narco defendants' format is similar to a regularly published public news magazine or newspaper except for the fact that the periodical is published "on line" or electronically, instead of being printed on paper. The fact that the Narco News website can accept readers' comments, or letters to the editor, via a seperate e-mail address only strengthens the need for First Amendment protections for the medium.
"Since principles of defamation law may be applied to the Internet... this court determines that Narco News, its website, and the writers who post information, are entitled to all the First Amendment protections accorded a newspaper-magazine or journalist in defamation suits... Furthermore, the nature of the articles printed on the website and Mr. Giordano's statements at Columbia University constitute matters of public concern because the information disseminated relates to the drug trade and its affect on people living in this hemisphere..."
-- New York Supreme Court Justice Paula Omansky
The Monopoly of the Paid
Media Has Been Broken
Victory Interview with Indymedia NYC
Press Calls Directed to:
Attorney Tom Lesser in USA (413) 584-7331
or to our publisher in Bolivia, via email:
narconews@hotmail.com
Archived History of a Free Speech Precedent
We went to Court on July 20, 2001
NY Supreme Judge
"Looked Askance" at
Banamex Arguments "If Friday's oral arguments are any indication the (Narco News Bulletin) defense will probably come out on top."
- Wired News
"Net Reporting At Stake"
By Mark K. Anderson
Christian Science Monitor:
"A Precedent-setting Case"
By Alexandra Marks "A precedent-setting case that raises fundamental questions about free speech in the globalized world of cyberspace, as well as the role of the independent journalists in a media world increasingly controlled by corporate giants."
- Christian Science Monitor, July 24, 2001
McKinney Defends
Narconews.com "A respected journalist telling the truth, at risk to his own safety, should not be facing a lawsuit meant to silence him."
- U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Georgia)
Hot Muckraker
By Mim Udovitch
Rolling Stone
"We Knew We Had Something
Special on Our Hands..."
A Special Commentary by...
"Banamex was not narco-pleased"
By Ben Winters
from In These Times
NEW Legal Briefs Now Online
Read the EFF Amicus Brief "The new independent journalists of the Internet, as personified by Al Giordano, play a crucial role in preserving the democratic aspirations of First Amendment protection. The role of such journalists is especially salient as mainstream media is increasingly in the hands of fewer and fewer large corporations."
- Electronic Frontier Foundation Amicus Brief
in support of Narco News motion to dismiss
Read New Narco News Legal Memorandum
Drug War on Trial Updates:
Cross-Fire in the Drug War
Narco News Publisher Warns of
Chill to Free Speech
By Amy Langfield
Online Journalism Review
With Sidebar:
"Mexican Bank, Mexican
Website, New York Court"
Roberto Hernández
Defeated
The Banamex-Narco News War
By José Martínez M.
Mexican Nationally-Syndicated Columnist
Translated by The Narco News Bulletin
PETER GORMAN WRITES:
Defend Narco News
We have gone into debt to file these motions
Please lend a hand with our defense fund
The Village VOICE Reports:
"Media Trial of the Summer"
By Cynthia Cotts
The Guardian of London Reports:
"Forum Shopping" by Banamex
By Sean Dodson
And WIRED NEWS Reports:
"Does Mexican Suit Fit in N.Y.?"
By Mark K. Anderson "Make no mistake. This court fight isn't about any particular story NarcoNews has done. It's about ALL of them, and all of the ones yet to come. And it's a battle over the continued independence of Internet journalism as well. The silencing of Al Giordano and NarcoNews isn't a theoretical possibility that might happen a couple years from now. It's already happening. Al and his volunteer lawyers are hip-deep in it right now. And they need our help."
- Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist Gary Webb
March 16, 2001
"The investigative journalism that's gone on primarily in Mexico has stood the test under Mexican legal process -- where an investigative journalist takes on some very big fish. And if the big fish can then pursue the journalist around the world and threaten the website wherever it emanates from, that's potentially harmful to spirited investigative journalism."
- Charles Nesson
Harvard Law Professor
Director, Berkman Center for Internet and Society
Now Available in Limited Edition...
The Mexico Papers
April 18, 2000 - August 9, 2000
Read Introduction and Table of Contents
The Narco News Book
Anthology: Volume I
Read Publisher's Affidavit About "The Mexico Papers"
To Benefit Defense Fund, The Mexico Papers
is available to readers for a $100 contribution *
Make Checks Out to "Drug War on Trial" and send to:
Drug War on Trial, c/o Attorney Thomas Lesser
39 Main Street, Northampton, MA 01060
(For copy of limited first edition, note on check or email "The Mexico Papers")
* Also available for photocopying at New York State Supreme Court
at 15 cents a page ($86.70, plus your time, travel and labor)
Order it today
...with credit card contribution through PayPal
Click Here, sign up for a PayPal Account, and contribute to:
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