First Amendment Battle in Podunk

[datasuspect]

excerpt: "While Cokinos ran for re-election last spring, a person known as "Recall Carl" sent e-mails and created a website with cartoons that criticized Cokinos, the other commissioners, the county judge and county's financial crisis involving Ford Park.

Cokinos, who lost the primary election in March, also claimed that the e-mails amounted to political advertising and violated the Texas Election Code because they were anonymous. Through the lawsuit, ISP Time Warner Cable has been subpoenaed to identify the person behind the Yahoo account "recall_carl01.""

article: http://www.panews.com/articles/2004/12/03/news/03news.txt

wow, i didn't know exercising 1st amendment rights where a government official is concerned could constitute defamtion.

[shuffnew]

1. If there is basis, it is likely that the mail lists used were spam...

If you go to any reputable "email" website, you can read the rules. The key to this suit (if valid) would be some one spamming unsolicited emails using an anonymous id. There are spam laws, where you must be identified (not anonymous) and give persons an "opt out" option.

Visit some of the online mail services to read the law.

If someone sent unsolicited (don't know if that is case in question or not, but likely is) mass emails from an anonymous source AND likely didn't have any "opt out" option etc. etc. it could be illegal.

Unsolicited email spamming to a mass distribution list, anonymously sent, and perhaps sent without an "opt out" feature, etc. could be illegal. So, depends on how the reported person actually sent out the emails as to whether they would be considered legal or not.

[Name removed]

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