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(Image source: SiliconANGLE)
BY STEVEN SPARKMAN
An award-winning legal news blog abruptly shut down Tuesday, with its owner citing government surveillance and a lack of Internet privacy in her decision.
Groklaw helped lawyers and the public untangle complicated legal issues, mostly relating to the technology industry.
The site has been cited in legal journals and won many awards. But the site’s creator, Pamela Jones, said she couldn’t continue to run the site knowing that confidential information sent by email was easily accessible to the government.
In a farewell post, she described the feeling of violation she felt when a burglar broke into her apartment. “I feel like that now, knowing that persons I don't know can paw through all my thoughts and hopes and plans in my emails ...” (Via Groklaw)
Jones cited Ladar Levison, the owner of Lavabit, an encrypted email service Levison shut down earlier this month rather than comply with government surveillance demands.
GOODMAN: “Should we just assume it’s all being read?”
LEVISON: “I think you should assume any communication that is electronic is being monitored.” (Via Democracy Now!)
Groklaw was eulogized on many tech and legal blogs, with most calling the site the latest casualty of the chilling effect of government surveillance. (Via Techdirt, Ars Technica)
Ken White at Popehat wrote: “Pamela Jones is ending Groklaw because she can't trust her government. She's ending it because ... there's no viable and reliable way to assure that our email won't be read by the state ...”
Both White and Simple Justice blogger Scott Greenfield admitted similar misgivings about communicating with clients through email, though not to the extent they’re considering shutting down their sites as well.
Greenfield said he’s always assumed the worst about electronic communication. “I have never thought otherwise than that my every computer utterance would ultimately end up in a file about me ... But … it’s not enough of a reason for me to shut down ... or end my internet presence. If anything, it’s the reason why I do as much out in public as I do.”
Groklaw gained fame for its coverage of the SCO Group’s Linux patent lawsuits and was nominated for awards from the American Bar Association and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.