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Commercial Censorship On the Internet -- An Update

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Date: Fri, 28 Jun 1996 09:06:45 -0400 Sender: Discussion of Investigative Reporting Techniques From: BONNIEBRITT To: Multiple recipients of list IRE-L Subject: Re: Commercial Censorship On the Internet -- An Update

Michael Lissack is raising a most important issue here. He has placed on his web site a substantive summary of most vexing municipal bond scandals of the last few years. He continues to report progress or regression in Orange County, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and an array of other areas where muni bond traders may have ripped off taxpayers and investors.

Now come Wall Street bullies in an attempt to pummel Lissack off the Net because they don't want a continuing record of their activities freely available to potential customers and investors. These actions obviate the Internet's most useful characteristic - its permanent, ubiquitous and searchable memory.

If Wall Street investment firms get away with disassociating their names from unethical activity they may have engaged in -- because Lissack can't afford to fight them -- thugs and bullies win.

Municipal bonds are an arcane area few reporters understand yet the most junior reporter is likely to be faced with a municipality wanting to float bonds to raise money. Often this type of borrowing is fraught with the most expensive type patronage and paybacks. If the information Lissack has gathered is pounded off the net, your most junior reporters along with beat and investigative reporters lose a valuable resource.

If anyone is looking for a worthy Net story to write, surely this is it. I've had this site bookmarked since the autumn. I've not met Lissack but his web site does not disappoint.

Michael, I hope you contact the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. In the meantime, please let us know what happens.

Anyone else have ideas on how to fight back against corporate harassment of the tobacco kind?

Thanks,

Bonnie Britt bonnieb@cris.com

> Date: Tue, 25 Jun 1996 10:19:51 -0400 > From: Michael Lissack > Subject: Commercial Censorship On the Internet -- An Update > > If you have any interest in Internet Censorship by companies, I have > become a case example. As one of my usenet correspondents phrased it, I > "seem to be victim of a really recent (and, to my mind, repugnant) > trend- firms using trademark law as a roundabout excuse to keep people > from legitimately disparaging them on the web." I have posted a site on > the net which fully describes the problem. Any publicity or news stories > you can generate would be a help. > > The story to date can be found at http://lissack.com/sbpcon.htm > The usenet discusssion can be found on comp.org.eff.talk or > misc.int-property -- the thread is about 50 messages long. > > I'm being threatened with a lawsuit re supposed trademark violations for > using the words "Smith Barney" and "Travelers" on a portion of the Muni > Bond Scandals web site -- a site which documents their outrageous and > illegal behavior (see for example, http://lissack.com/sbhu) > > Smith Barney complains that by using their names in association with > words like scandal, fraud, harassment, etc. that I am "causing > confusion" in the marketplace. > > Their game plan is to drive my site off the net because they don't like > what I have to say. More important, they have woken up to the idea that > they might want a web presence and as they told my lawyers, I am "a > problem" and "in the way". Their real problem is that my criticisms and > whistleblowing dominate the search engines if you try to find sites > relating to Smith Barney. I.e I'm succeeeding in "getting the word out" > and they don't like it. > > My lawyers tell me I'll win a lawsuit but it will be expensive. Your > attention and assistenace would be appreciated. > -- > Michael Lissack 150 West 56th St #4904 NY NY 10019 > lissack@lissack.com http://lissack.com > 212-245-7055 (work) 212-956-3464 (fax) > ```

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