Turning back to our lawsuit, the Judge's order was signed late on a Friday, served on the defendants sometime after that, and the following Monday was a holiday. That gave defendants only two business days to file papers, prepare defenses, answer charges, or, for that matter, to find lawyers. One defendant was a journalist working for an e-magazine associated with a print magazine. In those two business days, while filing answers and researching the DMCA, he or his lawyers also needed to understand how the new law affected the First Amendment rights of a journalist doing his work. By the way, his rights are our rights too.
Freedom of speech implies, even requires, freedom to hear that speech.
As we discuss the law and the case, remember that no trial has taken place. Website operators were forced to remove materials and a journalist was censored without a trial. Copyright plaintiffs often request that judges issue preliminary injunctions, which are orders to stop what you're doing until a trial can be held. A broad new law placing us at the mercy of judges who do not protect our Constitutional guarantees poses a danger for all of us. Failing to challenge this situation will encourage powerful interests to lobby for still more laws that eat away at still more of our rights.