Page 353 - Law and the Media

Law and the Media
dispute to be resolved without the cost and delay of litigation by one of ICANN’s approved
dispute resolution service providers. The disputed domain name does not have to be a
registered trademark in order to fall within the remit of UDRP. Julia Roberts and Madonna
were recently granted relief against cybersquatting in recognition of their ‘character’ or
‘personality’ rights.

21.4.3 Data protection

The United States does not have data protection equivalent to the Data Protection Act 1998
in the United Kingdom, but instead relies on a combination of legislation and self-regulation.
The United States Department of Commerce and the European Commission have entered
into a voluntary data protection system called the International Safe Harbor Privacy
2
Principles. The United States government has encouraged companies processing data online
in the United States to register and comply with the Safe Harbor provisions in order to avoid
prosecution by European authorities under European privacy laws.

21.4.4 Reporting restrictions
It is difficult to regulate reporting restrictions in the United States because of the First
Amendment to the Constitution which protects freedom of speech. The Internet has impacted
upon the problems that may arise from this protection. In 1995, the Canadian courts imposed
reporting restrictions on the Canadian media in respect of the trial in Canada of a husband
and wife called Barnardo and Homolka who were charged with the sexual abuse and murder
of children. However, a huge amount of detail about the case was posted on the Internet in
the United States and leaked into Canada. Although this posed a serious threat to the trial,
the Canadian authorities found it impossible to regulate the flow of information and
prosecute for contempt of court because of the sheer volume of information crossing the
border.

21.4.5 Obscenity and racial hatred
Obscenity
The Communications Decency Act 1996 was designed to regulate indecent and obscene
speech on the Internet and to prevent the transmission of such material to children. However,
there was considerable opposition to this Act by civil liberties and Internet groups. In Reno
v American Civil Liberties Union (1997) the American Civil Liberties Union successfully
challenged the Communications Decency Act in the Supreme Court as an unconstitutional
restraint on free speech. The Supreme Court held that using federal law to regulate the
Internet in order to compensate for a lack of blocking and filtering technology amounted to
a ‘total ban’ which violated the First Amendment freedom of speech right of adults to receive
and view such material. Part of the Act was struck down, although Section 230, which
legislates in respect of online defamation remains in force.

2
The Safe Harbor web site can be found at www.export.gov/safeharbor.
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