Internet users hit with cease-and-desist letters related to their online activities now have somewhere to turn to get help and information on their legal rights, thanks to a Web site launched Monday by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and four law school legal clinics.
The site, dubbed Chilling Effects in reference to how legal threats can stifle online use, is designed to help users navigate often murky legal waters by posting users' cease-and-desist letters replete with links and annotations to help them plot their legal course.
EFF launched the site along with Harvard University, Stanford University, University of California at Berkeley and University of San Francisco. Law students at the universities will respond to users' letters on the site, helping them understand their legal rights related to issues such as fan fiction, copyright concerns under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, trademark and domain names, anonymous speech and defamation, the EFF said.
Although the Internet allows users to speak to a wider audience, it also makes it easier for parties to silence their free speech, Wendy Seltzer, a fellow at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society said in a statement. Seltzer said she hopes that Chilling Effects will aid users by helping them to better understand their rights in respect to online legal issues.
EFF said that it expects the site to grow to include additional law schools and more information.
Chilling Effects is located at http://www.chillingeffects.org/.
