Judge questions media intent on Web commentary
Lawyers in fatal carjacking want tougher regulation
By Jamie Satterfield (Contact)
Saturday, February 28, 2009
A Knox County judge on Friday questioned whether news organizations opposing proposed limits on anonymous commentary on their Web sites were more worried about cold hard cash than chilled free speech.
"It's a commercial site," Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner said during a round of legal sparring with News Sentinel attorney Richard Hollow. "It's a site run for commercial purposes. … This is not the Internet. This is a site created by you in which you invite comments. This is something you control."
Defense attorneys representing four suspects in the January 2007 fatal carjacking of Channon Christian, 21, and Christopher Newsom, 23, asked the judge to either bar media Web sites from allowing online readers to post comments on stories about the case or require news organizations to police the commentary by requiring posters to provide verifiable identifying information.
A Knox County judge on Friday questioned whether news organizations opposing proposed limits on anonymous commentary on their Web sites were more worried about cold hard cash than chilled free speech.
"It's a commercial site," Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner said during a round of legal sparring with News Sentinel attorney Richard Hollow. "It's a site run for commercial purposes. … This is not the Internet. This is a site created by you in which you invite comments. This is something you control."
Defense attorneys representing four suspects in the January 2007 fatal carjacking of Channon Christian, 21, and Christopher Newsom, 23, asked the judge to either bar media Web sites from allowing online readers to post comments on stories about the case or require news organizations to police the commentary by requiring posters to provide verifiable identifying information.
(snip-article at link)
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