In addition to anything written for this newsletter, I also own a personal webpage. Until recently, I believed that my freedom of speech protected me online. For one unfortunate soul, the government felt that the Bill of Rights did not include the internet.

Sherman Austin is a twenty-one year black old male from California. He is the webmaster of Raise the Fist, a radical, anarchist website. On August 4, 2003, he was sentenced to one year of federal prison and three years of probation. What crime did this man commit? He put a link on his website to another webpage. The link was to a website containing bomb building instructions. The owner of that page, a young upper-class white male, is sitting free today. The FBI suggested to the judge to give a 4 month sentence. He said that the one year sentence would set an example for "future revolutionaries" that wanted to follow suit.

The question at hand is this: Should free speech also include the internet? If the government can't control what you say on the telephone, on television or in other forms of media, why should the internet be different? Sherman Austin was not telling people to build bombs and attack innocents; he was spreading knowledge because he is fearful that someday, WE THE PEOPLE may need to arm ourselves. And anyone who discards Mr. Austin as another "crazy radical" is letting the government take away a man's freedom. If this can happen in one case, what is preventing the government from doing this to others? - AN

Sources:
Raise the Fist