media law

Barrett Brown, a journalist and hacktivist who accepted a plea deal for threatening a federal agent on a YouTube video, is going to be sentenced Tuesday. But prosecutors have asked that their recommendations, as well as the defense's about Brown's sentence be kept sealed, Russia Today reports: "According to a statement made by the Free Barrett Brown group this week, 'It seems clear that the government doesn’t want journalists to attend the upcoming hearing with an understanding of what issues are at stake, and they don’t want further attention to a case that has already proven to be an embarrassment.”' Once First Amendment concerns were raised by Brown's defense and others, the government dropped a computer fraud charge against Brown for posting online a link to credit card information hacked by others.

Law firm Pinsent Masons, writing on its Out-Law blog, reports that the Court of Justice of the EU has ruled that a Czech journalist's use of a CCTV system at his home violated EU's data protection law. The court ruled that "'video surveillance' by individuals that is carried out 'even partially' in a public space is subject to the EU's Data Protection Directive, even if the camera capturing images of people is 'directed outwards from the private setting of the person processing the data.'" UK information commissioner David Smith told the blog that the CJEU's judgment applies to private people using drones with cameras: "The judgment means civilian operators of drones in public places will have to adhere to 'fair processing' requirements if capturing images that can identify individuals and may, in many cases, require them to obtain individuals' consent to the capturing of such footage, among other data protection rules that apply." The result is that the media's use of drones will require getting consent of the people being photographed and videorecorded.

Attorney General Eric Holder has decided against forcing New York Times reporter James Risen to reveal the identity of his confidential source, MSNBC's Pete Williams reports. James Risen said he would go to jail before naming the source who revealed an unsuccessful effort by the CIA to sabotage Iran's nuclear weapons program. The government sought to compel Risen's testimony in the trial of a former CIA official accused of leaking top-secret information.

U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema has ordered the Obama administration to decide by Tuesday whether it will make national security reporter James Risen testify at the trial of a government whistleblower and force the reporter to discuss his confidential sources, the New York Times' Jonathan Mahler (and Risen's colleague) reports. Prosecutors say the defendant Jeffrey Sterling provided  Risen "with information about a botched C.I.A. attempt to sabotage Iran’s nuclear weapons program, which Mr. Risen wrote about in his 2006 book, 'State of War.'"

The Federal Aviation Administration doesn't expect to finalize rules for the commercial use of drones under 55 pounds until 2017 or 2018, the Washington Post's Craig Whitlock reports. Members of a House Transportation Committee panel had a hearing yesterday during which lawmakers questioned if the FAA is keeping aviation standards in pace with consumer drone sales. Rules were supposed to be released by September 2015. 

The FAA also announced it gave permission to four companies to use drones on a limited basis for aerial surveying and inspections.

The Washington Post's Josh Hicks reports that a bill to reform the Freedom of Information Act is on track to be passed by Congress as long as House leaders put a bill passed by the Senate on the schedule; similar legislation was passed by the House several months ago: "Reps. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), who sponsored the House bill, urged their House colleagues to approve the Senate version and send it to the president. They said in a joint statement Tuesday that the measure would 'strengthen FOIA, the cornerstone of open-government law.'"

One of the key changes in the FOIA bill would limit exemption 5, which excludes from disclosure records because of attorney-client, attorney work product and deliberative process privileges. Open-government advocates say this exemption is abused by government agencies. Agencies would be required to release information after 25 years, Hicks reports.

After U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller dropped a hold on a bill to reform the Freedom of Information Act, the Senate passed a bill that would create a presumption of openness among government agencies, Politico's Burgess Everett reports. The House passed a similar bill earlier this year. The question is if the House finds time to consider the Senate bill during the current lame-duck session.

The Wall Street Journal's Jack Nicas and Andy Pasztor report that the Federal Aviation Administration is contemplating regulations for commercial drones that industry folks say will "essentially prohibit" industrial applications in pipeline inspections and crop monitoring. While the FAA has not released the proposed federal rules for integrating drones into American airspace, WSJ reports the rules "are expected to require operators to have a license and limit flights to daylight hours, below 400 feet and within sight of the person at the controls, according to people familiar with the rule-making process." Requiring pilot training for drone operators will curb commercial drone usage because it'll be harder to get legal status to use them, including for media usages like filmmaking, WSJ also reports.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled that requests for records must be designated to a government agency's designated open-records officer, the Associated Press reports: "The decision overturned ruling by a divided Commonwealth Court that said state and local agencies should presume that any written request for records is a Right-to-Know request."

Here's the decision: http://law.justia.com/cases/pennsylvania/supreme-court/2014/67-map-2013....

After years of delay, the Federal Aviation Administration is close to releasing a ruling to allow smaller drones operated by commercial enterprises like media companies to fly in American airspace, National Defense Magazine's Yasmin Tadjeh reports. Jim Williams, manager of the FAA’s UAS integration office, said "we hope that it will be published before the end of this year." Under the 2012 FAA Modernization and Reform Act, drones weighing less than 55 pounds were to be integrated into the domestic airspace by September 2015.