Re: Judge denies Ford Internet Request

From: Richard A Pyburn (rap777@juno.com)
Date: Tue Sep 07 1999 - 20:33:07 EDT


What was the irreparable damage? 4duh now will be unable to sell
underpowered engines to unsuspecting speed freaks? Hooray for Robert
Lane! Maybe the R/T group can hire him. He sure helped the Ko-Bra owners!

On Tue, 7 Sep 1999 19:48:07 -0400 "The Man From Utopia" <tmfu@home.com>
writes:
>------------------------------------------------------------------------

----
>----
>
>
>
>01:57 PM ET 09/07/99
>
> Judge Denies Ford Internet Request
> By JUSTIN HYDE=
> Associated Press Writer=
> 	   DETROIT (AP) _ A federal judge Tuesday denied Ford Motor 
>Co.'s
> request to block a man from putting Ford's internal documents on
> his Internet site, saying such an order would violate the First
> Amendment.
> 	   U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds did ban Robert Lane, a
> 32-year-old nursing student and Ford enthusiast, from destroying
> any Ford documents he might have. She also ordered Lane not to
> violate Ford copyrights and ordered him not to solicit information
> from Ford employees.
> 	   Ford claimed publishing the documents violated laws 
>against
> disclosing trade secrets. But Edmunds said while Ford had a strong
> case, blocking Lane from putting the documents on the Internet
> would be an illegal prior restraint of speech.
> 	   ``The courts have steadfastly held that the First 
>Amendment does
> not permit the prior restraint of speech by way of injunction, even
> in circumstances where the disclosure threatens vital economic
> interests,'' Edmunds wrote in her opinion.
> 	   Lane and his site, www.BlueOvalNews.com, had been under a
> temporary restraining order issued Aug. 25 ordering himàno
>  do
> remarkable things when it comes to our freedoms ... even when faced
> by huge corporations such as the Ford Motor Company!'' said a
> message posted on the site Tuesday.
> 	   In a statement, Ford said it was pleased with the ruling 
>because
> it kept Lane from duplicating Ford documents protected by
> copyright. Ford spokesman Terry Bresnihan said the company has not
> decided whether to pursue any further actions against Lane.
> 	   Lane has testified he has received 112 Ford documents from
> anonymous sources, including blueprints and production schedules.
> 	   Among the documents is an internal memo detailing problems 
>with
> the 1999 Mustang SVT Cobra. Ford announced recently that all 5,300
> models sold had been recalled to fix exhaust problems that cut as
> much as 50 horsepower from the 320 horsepower the car is supposed
> to have.
> 	   In a court filing, Ford claimed Lane has ``inflicted 
>irreparable
> harm'' by posting blueprints for new engines, schedules for new
> vehicles and product planning memos.
>
>

Richard in San Antonio

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