"...public records are being used in novel and unforeseenways...."

[Peter Marshall <techdiff@ix.netcom.com>]

>ISPs AND DATABASE SUED IN ABORTION CASE

>Issue: Internet/Legal Issues

>Are Internet service providers and electronic databases that offer
>subscribers look-up information about state motor vehicle records
>recklessly and illegally assisting anti-abortion groups to track down and
>harass abortion clinic patients? That's the question at the heart of a
>Internet privacy lawsuit recently filed in federal district court in
>Orlando (FL).

>"There are important reasons to have open government and accountability,
>but at the same time public records are being used in novel and unforeseen
>ways," said Peter P. Swire, a law professor at Ohio State University who
>specializes in privacy law. "This case shows there are many issues about
>public records that have not been resolved yet."  Among those issues are
>the Free Speech rights of companies vs. the privacy rights of medical
>patients.
>The case will also help determine the legal liability and responsibilities
>of Internet companies that place revealing information -- like the name
>and address of a particular car owner -- into the hands of aggressive
>political advocates, Kaplan reports.

>[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Carl S. Kaplan <kaplanc@nytimes.com>]
><http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/01/cyber/cyberlaw/22law.html