2007 Prediction #1: Breakout year for internet grassroot

I decided not to make excuses for being gone so long... let's just dive right in.

A fascinating tale is developing to kick off the new year, and it has broad implications for discourse in this country. In a nutshell: blogger 6,332,550 records disturbing stuff from talk radio and send clips to the shows' advertisers. They withdraw ads, and the parent company (Disney) pounces on -- not the talk radio hosts -- the blogger -- in the form of threats of copyright lawsuits.

We have their attention, folks. The relevant term is Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation or "SLAPP", and half of the united states have laws specifically protecting people from such lawsuits. It is time for a federal law, so notify any U.S. congresspeople you know.

The goal of a SLAPP is quite simple: change people's behavior (in this case, stop him from criticizing you) by threatening to drag them into court at great expense to themselves if they do not. It is not important that heshe has actually violated any law. In this case, the audio clips are clearly and obviously used fairly, under provisions in copyright law, and any lawsuit actually brought would be actionably frivolous.

All that is important is that the potential defendant not be in a position to pay for the exorbitant legal fees that would be required to clear hisher name. Ta-da: you've circumvented the entire notion of equal protection under the laws, and all it took was a big, big bank account.

You do have a problem, however: people in this country, for some reason, kind of enjoy the idea of equal protection under the laws. Bloggers seem to be especially prickly about it. I suspect it is because they must rely on the power of their ideas to distinguish themselves, rather than just buying distinction on the open market.

This, of course, is not brand-new. You probably remember the beef industry trying to SLAPP Oprah Winfrey down (Bad choice of target, beef guys).

But starting in 2007, everyone is Oprah. Bloggers and other journalists are going to have or develop the tools to get their rights back. They're connected to each other, and your SLAPPs are going to boomerang on you with amazing frequency. They will not be cost-effective anymore. You might still be able to squash the little blogger in question, but you're going to create an even bigger problem for yourself in the process.

Ideally, state and federal laws will add to the cost of doing this kind of business, by subjecting you to severe penalties when you are found to have attempted it.