ABFFE President Chris Finan talks about the recent controversy regarding Amazon.com’s decisions to sell and then pull from its website a constitutionally protected work that is, nonetheless, abhorrent to many.
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington ruled this week that Amazon.com would not have to comply with the North Carolina Department of Revenue’s request for data revealing the identities of North Carolina customers and “detailed records of their purchases, including the expressive content.”
A federal district court has granted a preliminary injunction against an online censorship law that went into effect in Massachusetts earlier this year. In July, Harvard Book Store, Porter Square Books, and ABFFE joined in a suit to block the law because it imposes severe restrictions on constitutionally protected speech on the Internet.
The Federal District Court in Anchorage has granted a preliminary injunction requested by Alaska booksellers, libraries, and other First Amendment and media organizations.
Hundreds of booksellers are supporting the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression and its all-important work in the fight against censorship by selling products in the ABFFE affiliate program, including reading glasses, bookmarks, and incense.
On Monday, September 20, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that two Oregon statutes that criminalize the distribution of sex education and other non-obscene materials to minors are unconstitutional.
On September 17, Media Coalition filed a friend-of-the-court brief urging the Supreme Court to strike down California’s restrictions on video games with violent themes. The brief was signed by five Media Coalition members, including the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression.
Booksellers are stocking their shelves with books that have been deemed vulgar, violent, or offensive in preparation for Banned Books Week, a national celebration of the freedom to read, which takes place from September 25 - October 2.
Interested in learning what it takes to be a successful writer in today’s marketplace while enjoying a remarkably beautiful setting? Take a chance on winning the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression’s raffle of a trip to the October 21 - 23 FIU/Books & Books International Writers Conference in the Cayman Islands.
