Jehovah’s Witness who posted criticisms on Reddit can remain anonymous, judge rules

by Tameria2001 110 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  LV101

  VIdiot - I heard under a million JWs in the US on the video (taping) Brokeback linked of the motion of WT vs. Reddit. I was nodding off at the time and may have heard the wrong figure because I can't believe it. No wonder they want the kiddos ice cream money -- they know their heydey is long gone and they're grabbing everything they can.

  LongHairGal - what's insane is all the growth after 1975! False prophecy soared membership -- hard to imagine but there's never a shortage of hurting people to be snagged into doomsday cults.
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  LV101

  LongHairGal - the JWs are the biggest bullies and your synapse fired you through the horror -- thank your lucky stars! I'd never been around such ill mannered, arrogant, ignorant, self-assuming, begging, peeps, in my life! Keep doing more of the same and pumpin' the iron (whatever) and lookin' good.
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  Vidiot

  @ LV101...

  I suppose a million (active) in the US is possible, now that I think about it...

  ...there's supposed to be around 7 million worldwide, and there's quite a number of countries that have 'em.
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  LV101

  Vid - you're right -- I keep brain fog calculating the 3rd world countries that don't give the good ole boys a dime - WOOHOO! Noticed photo of Tony Top Shelf and he's wearing nice threads - he's not shopping at Sams Club or Walmart.

  They can exist on their billions -- no one could be stupid enough at investing to blow thru billions.
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  Corney

  EFF's statement:

  A fight over unmasking an anonymous Reddit commenter has turned into a significant win for online speech and fair use. A federal court has affirmed the right to share copyrighted material for criticism and commentary, and shot down arguments that Internet users from outside the United States can’t ever rely on First Amendment protections for anonymous speech.

  <…>

  But we disagree with the court’s final decision: to order limited disclosure so that Watch Tower might attempt to shore up its copyright claim. While the court agreed that “Watch Tower has not demonstrated any actual harm or likelihood of future harm”—the fourth fair use factor—it gave undue credence Watch Tower’s claim that “the harm it suffered from people infringing on its copyrights was directing others away from its website.” Based on the theory that “[p]erhaps Watch Tower, if provided the opportunity, could demonstrate that fewer people visited its website after Darkspilver’s posting,” the court decided to allow Watch Tower’s counsel access to Darkpsilver’s identifying information.

  Based on the court’s approach, the Doe standard offers weak protections for fair users. Even a far-fetched theory regarding a particular fair use factor, like the one posited here, might be enough to justify disclosure even if the rest of the fair use analysis clearly suggests the use was lawful. That said, the disclosure is subject to strict limits. Reddit may disclose it only to Watch Tower’s counsel of record, and that counsel is prohibited from sharing that information with anyone else—including the client—without a separate court order. In addition, the court explicitly “admonished that any violation of this Order will be sanctioned.”

  This case touches on a lot of EFF’s most important issues, and it’s a prime example of how intellectual property, free speech, and privacy can intersect in complicated ways, making it hard for people to speak out about controversial issues. We are considering next steps. But in the meantime, we are also celebrating a crucial win for the First Amendment and access to anonymous speech for Internet users everywhere.

  Full statement: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/05/reddit-commenters-fight-anonynmity-win-free-speech-and-fair-use
  
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  Humphry

  Chilling free speech by disfellowshipping dissenters and forcing other members to have no more communication thru shunning is a first amendment violation. If WT enforces shunning DS they will be in very hot water and may spell the end for the WT corporation in house "judicial system" that violates the first amendment. Wasn't XGB Ray Franz DF'd just for eating a meal with his employer. I think this can be used to show malice and forced compliance of all members in this 1st amendment violation and the arbitrary changing of rules to inflict this violation.

  Could we see a class action lawsuit over this violation in the future? I hope so.
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  Humphry

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIKrpQrORpo
  
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  Simon

  The real issue is that if a person no longer believes that the Watchtower is God's sole channel of communication on earth, they must be required to say goodbye to all of their family and friends if they wish to exercise this freedom of thought. The public and the legal system is mostly unaware of this and this is the whipping stick the WT seeks to protect with this action.

  The only freedom you have is freedom to make your own choices. What you don't have is the freedom to impose your choices on others. Just as you were free to chose to be a JW, you're also free to chose not to be one. Your friends and relatives are free to chose to remain and to follow the suggestion to shun you or to not do so. It often comes down to how much of a zealot they are - the standard is mostly self-imposed.

  The WT is free, as a religion, to suggest all manner of crazy stupid ideas. Most people have the same freedom to push half baked investment schemes, quack science and all manner of things that cause people ills. And those people have the freedom to believe it and follow it or not.

  What no one has ever come up with is something meaningful that could curtail the WTS behavior which wouldn't itself be far, far worse than anything the WTS ever has or could do.

  The fact is, people can and do leave. Not everyone shuns. Not everyone is "otherwise nice if it weren't for the WTS". The people who shun you often want to shun you - they are JWs because they get to be judgemental unloving pricks. THEY are the only people who can shun you.
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  Diogenesister

  So the idiotic judge didn’t even think Watchtower had any kind of a copyright claim whatsoever....could have passed the motion to quash.....yet still decided to throw Darkspilver to the dogs.

  Im so angry I could .....😡😡😡😡😡😡
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  Diogenesister

  Jeff T The issue is not whether or not DS has a right to speak anonymously. The question before the court is about limits on their ability to use some one else's words. I'm all in favor of fair use, as a writer I support copyright law. This will need to go to court for a decision.

  Actually it is part of the case.

  This case isn’t trying whether their has been a copyright breech. That will happen when ( and if, since I don’t believe it’s Watchtowers aim) Watchtower gets Darkspilvers I.D. from Reddit. Then they will pursue their copyright claim.

  This case is about whether Reddit has to hand over Darkspilvers identity to Watchtower, and part of that case entails establishing Darkspilver’s right to anonymous speech.