The following statement may be attributed to Joe Brennan Jr., Chairman of the Internet Media Entertainment & Gaming Association (iMEGA).
"We are encouraged by U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen Crocker’s decision to uphold Americans’ First Amendment when using the Internet. Judge Crocker was absolutely right to prevent an unwarranted government search into the book purchases and reading habits of innocent Americans shopping on Amazon.com - something so potentially harmful, Judge Crocker said that it would “frost keyboards across America”, and leave Americans looking over their shoulders every time they made a purchase online.
Though the Justice Department needs to take action regarding serious charges against an allegedly corrupt Wisconsin public official, Judge Crocker’s admonition should caution all prosecutors to fully consider the broader, long-term implications of their actions and any investigations involving the Internet. While prosecutors’ should be able to use every resource available to combat crime, they, along with the courts, must recognize that actions that target and violate Americans’ constitutionally protected “digital civil rights” will have a chilling effect on the Internet.
"Judge Crocker’s decision was the right one in response to Amazon.com’s request to limit Federal prosecutors seeking to identify innocent online shoppers who purchased used books from an individual who failed to report the income or pay his taxes from the sales. Law-abiding citizens who simply shop online in good faith should not have their rights violated or be exposed to a potentially long and expansive federal investigation. Judge Crocker has astutely recognized that federal prosecutors can conduct their work while preserving the rights of not only Amazon.com shoppers, but the millions of Americans shopping online every day – especially during this holiday season.
"This is the second time in recent months we’ve seen prosecutors zealously over-reach in subpoenaing customer records of innocent American Internet users. Whether demanding the records of anyone who buys books from an online store, or readers of a particular article on a Web site, prosecutors run the risk of creating dangerous precedents of digital civil rights violations.
Americans should have the reasonable expectation that, as long as they are not breaking the law, they will not be the subject of legal fishing expeditions. iMEGA hopes that other prosecutors will embrace Judge Crocker’s ruling as the standard for respecting Americans’ digital civil rights."
About iMEGA – The Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association (iMEGA), a 501(c) 6 trade association, was founded in 2007 with the goal of working constructively and cooperatively with government at all levels, and other concerned citizens and corporations, to continue the remarkable growth of the Internet, and to promote innovation, openness and freedom as the path to even greater benefit of this medium for all. For more information, visit www.imega.org
ARTICLE COURTESY OF WWW.GAMBLING911.COM
Tony George
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