US Law Archives - Page 44 of 71

Department of Justice Prohibits Nonpartisan Elections

Washington Times: “Voters in [Kingston, N.C.] decided overwhelmingly last year to do away with the party affiliation of candidates in local elections, but the Obama administration recently overruled the electorate and decided that equal rights for black voters cannot be achieved without the Democratic Party. The Justice Department’s ruling, which affects races for City Council and mayor, [said] partisan elections are needed so that black voters can elect their ‘candidates of choice’ – identified by the department as those who are Democrats and almost exclusively black.”

FCC Proposes Rules of the Road for the Internet

The Blog of LegalTimes: “The Federal Communications Commission moved forward today on proposed Net Neutrality rules that would prevent Internet service providers from intentionally blocking or slowing web traffic. In a notice of proposed rulemaking, the FCC invited public comment on six principles intended to “preserve and promote an open Internet.”

A Power Grab Called “Net Neutrality”

Investors Business Daily: “Diversity czar Mark Lloyd’s FCC votes Thursday on the issue of net neutrality. Advertised as providing access to all, it will do to the information superhighway what Lloyd proposed for talk radio.”

Net Neutrality is “Fairness Doctrine for the Internet”

The Hill: “Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) spoke against net neutrality regulations today at an event put on by the Safe Internet Alliance. Representing the songwriters, singers, actors, producers and other entertainers in Memphis and Nashville, she said the creative community does not want the federal government to interfere with how they are able to get content to consumers via the Internet.”

“Net neutrality, as I see it, is the fairness doctrine for the Internet,” she said. The creators “fully understand what the fairness doctrine would be when it applies to TV or radio. What they do not want is the federal government policing how they deploy their content over the Internet and they want the ISPs to manage their networks and deploy the content however they have agreed on with ISP. They do not want a czar of the Internet to determine when they can deploy their creativity over the Internet. “They do not want a czar to determine what speeds will be available….We are watching the FCC very closely as it relates to that issue.”

Judge Tosses Sheriff’s Suit Against Craigslist Over Prostitution Ads

ABA Journal Law News Now: “A federal judge in Chicago has tossed a sheriff’s lawsuit against Craigslist that claimed ads for prostitution posted on the website created a public nuisance. U.S. District Judge John Grady said Craigslist wasn’t legally responsible for the content, Bloomberg reports. Grady found that the company is protected by the Communications Decency Act, which shields providers of interactive computer services from liability, according to the Register. His Oct. 20 opinion (PDF posted by USA Today) cited a federal appeals court ruling finding the same law protected Craigslist from liability for discriminatory housing ads.”