Module 5: Freedom of Expression

Question 1

The expression of opinions by people who do not reveal their identity.

Answer 1

anonymous expression

Question 2

A service that allows anonymity on the Internet by using a computer program that strips the originating header and/or IP address from the message and then forwards the message to its intended recipient.

Answer 2

anonymous remailer service

Question 3

Laws designed to reduce frivolous SLAPPs (strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP), which is a lawsuit filed by corporations, government officials, and others against citizens and community groups who oppose them on matters of concern).

Answer 3

anti-SLAPP laws

Question 4

An act signed into law in 1998 with the aim of prohibiting the making of harmful material available to minors via the Internet; the law was ultimately ruled largely unconstitutional.

Answer 4

Child Online Protection Act (COPA)

Question 5

An act passed in 2000; it required federally financed schools and libraries to use some form of technological protection (such as an Internet filter) to block computer access to obscene material, pornography, and anything else considered harmful to minors.

Answer 5

Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA)

Question 6

Title V of the Telecommunications Act, it aimed at protecting children from pornography, including imposing $250,000 fines and prison terms of up to two years for the transmission of “indecent” material over the Internet.

Answer 6

Communications Decency Act (CDA)

Question 7

A law that specifies that it is legal to spam, provided the messages meet a few basic requirements—spammers cannot disguise their identity by using a false return address, the email must include a label specifying that it is an ad or a solicitation, and the email must include a way for recipients to indicate that they do not want future mass mailings

Answer 7

Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN-SPAM)

Question 8

Making either an oral or a written statement of alleged fact that is false and that harms another person.

Answer 8

defamation

Question 9

Signed into law in 1998, the act addresses a number of copyright-related issues, with Title II of the act providing limitations on the liability of an Internet service provider for copyright infringement.

Answer 9

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)

Question 10

Doing research on the Internet to obtain someone’s private personal information—such as home address, email address, phone numbers, and place of employment—and even private electronic documents, such as photographs, and then posting that information online without permission.

Answer 10

doxing

Question 11

The first amendment in the U.S. Constitution that protects Americans’ rights to freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and freedom to assemble peaceably.

Answer 11

First Amendment

Question 12

Persistent or malicious harassment aimed at a specific person that can be prosecuted under the law.

Answer 12

hate speech

Question 13

The control or suppression of the publishing or accessing of information on the Internet.

Answer 13

Internet censorship

Question 14

Software that can be used to block access to certain websites that contain material deemed inappropriate or offensive.

Answer 14

Internet filter

Question 15

A type of lawsuit that organizations may file in order to gain subpoena power in an effort to learn the identity of anonymous Internet users who they believe have caused some form of harm to the organization through their postings.

Answer 15

John Doe lawsuit

Question 16

A written defamatory statement.

Answer 16

libel

Question 17

A section of the Communications Decency Act that provides immunity to an Internet service provider (ISP) that publishes user-generated content, as long as its actions do not rise to the level of a content provider.

Answer 17

Section 230 of the CDA

Question 18

Sending sexual messages, nude or seminude photos, or sexually explicit videos over a cell phone.

Answer 18

sexting

Question 19

An oral defamatory statement

Answer 19

slander

Question 20

A lawsuit filed by corporations, government officials, and others against citizens and community groups who oppose them on matters of concern. The lawsuit is typically without merit and is used to intimidate critics out of fear of the cost and effort associated with a major legal battle

Answer 20

strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP)

Question 21

The ______ protects Americans’ rights to freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and freedom to peaceably assemble.

Answer 21

First Amendment

Question 22

The Supreme Court has held that obscene speech and defamation may be forbidden by the government. True or False?

Answer 22

True

Question 23

An important Supreme Court case that established a three-part test to determine if material is obscene and therefore not protected speech was _______.

Answer 23

Miller v. California

Question 24

Making either an oral or a written statement of alleged fact that is false and harms another person is

Answer 24

defamation

Question 25

Section 230 of the ________ provides immunity to an Internet service provider that publishes user-generated content, as long as its actions do not rise to the level of a content provider.

Answer 25

Communications Decency Act

Question 26

This law required federally financed schools and libraries to use some form of technological protection to block computer access to obscene material, pornography, and anything else considered harmful to minors.

Answer 26

Children’s Internet Protection Act

Question 27

The country with perhaps the most rigorous Internet censorship in the world is

Answer 27

China

Question 28

An anti-SLAPP law is used by government officials against citizens who oppose them on matters of public concern. True or False?

Answer 28

False

Question 29

________ involves doing research on the Internet to obtain someone’s private personal information (such as home address, email address, phone numbers, and place of employment) and even private electronic documents (such as photographs), and then posting that information online without permission.

Answer 29

Doxing

Question 30

An aggrieved party can file a ______ lawsuit against a defendant whose identity is temporarily unknown because he or she is communicating anonymously or using a pseudonym.

Answer 30

John Doe

Question 31

The California State Court in Pre-Paid v. Sturtz et al. set a legal precedent that courts apply when deciding __________

Answer 31

whether or not to approve subpoenas requesting the identity of anonymous web posters

Question 32

Persistent or malicious harassment aimed at an ethnic, racial, or religious group can be prosecuted as hate speech. True or False?

Answer 32

False

Question 33

The ___________ Act specifies requirements that commercial emailers must follow when sending out messages that advertise or promote a commercial product or service.

Answer 33

CAN-SPAM