Chilling Effects is a collaborative archive created by several law school clinics and the
Electronic Frontier Foundation to protect lawful online activity from legal threats. Its website, Chilling Effects Clearinghouse, allows recipients of
cease-and-desist notices to submit them to the site and receive information about their legal rights and responsibilities. It was created by
Wendy Seltzer.
Inception
The archive was founded in 2001 by Internet activists who were concerned that the unregulated private practice of sending cease-and-desist letters seemed to be increasing and was having an unstudied but potentially significant "
chilling effect" on speech.
The archive got a significant boost when
Google began submitting its notices in 2002. Google began to do so in response to the publicity generated when the
Church of Scientology convinced Google to remove references and links to the anti-Scientology Web site
Operation Clambake in April 2002. The incident inspired vocal Internet users and groups to complain to Google, and the links to the Clambake site were restored. Google subsequently began to contribute its notices to , archiving the Scientology complaints and linking to the archive.
Since 2002, researchers have been using the clearinghouse to study the use of cease-and-desist letters, primarily looking at
DMCA 512 takedown notices, non-DMCA copyright, and trademark claims.
Members
See also
