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ALIPAC Responds to Ambush Copyright Lawsuit Over
Harry Reid
For National Release
September 1, 2010
CONTACT: Americans for Legal Immigration PAC
(866) 703-0864 WilliamG@alipac.us
ALIPAC is responding to an ambush lawsuit filed by RightHaven LLC
& Las Vegas Review-Journal alleging copyright infringement by
William Gheen and the national illegal immigration fighting group
Americans for Legal Immigration PAC which hosts the largest archive
of information in existence on the topics of border security and
illegal immigration.
"We stand ready to defend our free political speech and the free
speech of all Americans against predatory companies like RightHaven
and biased newspapers that would use the courts to try to generate
revenue and silence the free speech of Americans," said William
Gheen President of ALIPAC. "We intend to defend our organization,
our rights, and our good name with every possible resource."
"RightHaven is suing ALIPAC over an article titled "'Latino
Summit': (US Senator) Reid addresses Hispanic issues", which ran in
the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Feb. 18, 2010. The article
describes US Senator Harry Reid's promises to a Latino group that
he would support a form of Amnesty for illegal aliens in America.
The article also describes how many Democrats are backing away from
Reid's Amnesty legislation due to "recent loss of several
high-profile seats to Republicans"
Senator Reid is in a close race with Republican challenger Sharon
Angle who has recently been described by a new Political Action
Committee called Immigrants List as "among biggest obstacles to
immigration reform" Amnesty.
RightHaven is asking a judge to give them full control of ALIPAC's
Internet domain www.ALIPAC.uswhich
would allow them to shut down the entire website over the article
about Senator Reid's support for Amnesty.
ALIPAC's first notice of a copyright dispute came in the form of a
Google alert indicating a court document had been filed, followed
by an e-mail of inquiry from a reporter for the Las Vegas Sun.
Righthaven LLC is a new company formed in March of 2010 that goes
around filing lawsuits without warning against bloggers hoping for
a quick settlement of $3-$5,000.
ALIPAC archives articles from online publications as part of the
groups rights under the Fair Use Act and as expressions of the
group's members freedoms of political speech. In the six years
ALIPAC has been in operation no other media outlet or company has
chosen to challenge ALIPAC's rights in court, although materials
from all major news publications are archived at www.ALIPAC.us
In the few cases where source publications have requested the
removal of materials, those requests have been granted by ALIPAC.
ALIPAC received no request from Las Vegas Review-Journal or
RightHaven, just an Ambush lawsuit.
ALIPAC's archives have revolutionized the Internet's long term
memory on subjects regarding illegal immigration. The archives are
utilized without charge by American citizens, lawmakers,
candidates, reporters, law enforcement agents, students, and others
seeking greater knowledge about this important national
issue.
"For American citizens to make proper choices and to be able to
understand a complex political issue like illegal immigration, they
need full access to articles and information across a period of
many years," said William Gheen. "Our non-profit political action
committee will not stop providing this service to American citizens
as our volunteer work is a critical element of a national political
debate. We are seeking legal representation today to defend our
rights and to look into filing lawsuits against Righthaven and the
Las Vegas Review-Journal for attempting to violate our Civil Rights
and trying to prevent our public participation."
"We will not allow ourselves or the online communities of America
debating political issues to be intimidated or silenced by the
aggressive legal ambush tactics of Righthaven and Las Vegas
Review-Journal," said William Gheen.
Americans for Legal Immigration PAC will be reaching out to
supporters across America for financial and legal assistance in
this matter. ALIPAC is America's third largest grassroots
organization fighting for secure borders. With over 30,000
supporters nationally, the group does not intend to pay Righthaven
a single dime, much less the thousands of dollars they usually
extort from bloggers who cannot afford to defend themselves. For
more information or to support ALIPAC please visit www.ALIPAC.us
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