IP: EFF: Bank Pres Drags Journalist into NY Court Over Drug Expose

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

>
>Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Advisory
>
>For Immediate Release: July 12, 2001
>
>
>Contact:
>
>Cindy Cohn, EFF Legal Director, cindy@eff.org,
>   +1 415 436-9333 x108
>
>Will Doherty, EFF Media Relations, press@eff.org,
>   +1 415 436-9333 x111
>
>
>Bank Pres Drags Journalist into NY Court Over Drug Expose
>
>Electronic Frontier Foundation Urges U.S. Court to Respect
>   Mexican Rulings
>
>
>New York City, NY - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
>today urged a New York state court to respect Mexican court
>rulings that have disallowed lawsuits against independent
>journalist Al Giordano for publishing allegations of drug
>trafficking by Banco Nacional de Mexico President Roberto
>Hernandez Ramirez.
>
>EFF seeks to protect the First Amendment rights of online,
>independent journalists against the abusive "shopping" by
>large, powerful corporations for favorable jurisdictions.
>The Mexican bank brought the case against a Mexican-based
>website, The Narco News Bulletin
>( http://www.narconews.com ), produced solely by Giordano.
>
>"The EFF is concerned that the bank resorted to New York
>courts to try to shut down this website because it could
>not do so in Mexican courts," said Cindy Cohn, Legal
>Director for the EFF.  "This kind of forum shopping
>threatens to shut down one of the greatest benefits of
>the Internet -- giving a voice to independent,
>Internet-based journalists.  Faced with having to defend
>themselves in far-flung jurisdictions, many independent
>journalists will simply choose not to publish on the
>Internet."
>
>The case arises from allegations published on the The Narco
>News Bulletin website that the bank president was involved
>in illegal activities in Mexico.  The EFF filed an amicus
>brief urging the New York court to rule that it was
>improper for the bank to force Mr. Giordano into New York
>state court for the statements posted on the website. The
>hearing on the case is set for July 20, 2001.
>
>Since April 18, 2000, Al Giordano has produced The Narco
>News Bulletin, an online newspaper devoted to spirited
>investigative journalism on the US-Latin America drug
>trade. Articles posted on The Narco News Bulletin website
>have discussed allegations by others that Roberto
>Hernandez Ramirez, the president of the Banco Nacional de
>Mexico, is involved in drug trafficking.  Some of these
>stories were reprinted articles from the Mexican
>newspaper Por Esto!, published in Mexico by Mario Renato
>Menendez.
>
>After failing three times to sue Menendez in Mexico over
>the allegations, Banco Nacional de Mexico now seeks to
>force Menendez and Giordano to defend themselves in New
>York state court against the same basic claims. The New
>York case groups together the allegations against the
>Mexican-based website, hosted in Maryland, with statements
>made by Menendez and Giordano in New York City on a radio
>broadcast and at a Columbia University Law School
>conference.
>
>The EFF amicus brief asked the Court to adopt one of two
>courses of action.  First, in order to deter abusive forum
>shopping, the EFF asked the court to dismiss the case
>since Mexican law governs the dispute.
>
>Alternatively, since Narconews.com mainly republished
>investigative work done by others, the EFF asked the
>New York court to apply a distinct legal standard for
>libel claims related to republished statements. The
>legal standard requires that a republisher had, or should
>have had substantial reasons to question the accuracy
>of the articles. EFF believes that this higher liability
>standard for republishing on the Internet is necessary
>to encourage the growth of Internet journalism.
>
>About EFF:
>
>The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil
>liberties organization working to protect rights in the
>digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages
>and challenges industry and government to support free
>expression, privacy, and openness in the information
>society. EFF is a member-supported organization and
>maintains one of the most linked-to websites in the world:
>http://www.eff.org/
>
>                         -end-
>



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