In July, thousands of small magazines will see 20% hikes in their mailing costs. Increases for larger magazines will be much lower, and critics say that’s because Time Warner created the new rate scheme. U.S. Postal Regulatory Commissioner Ruth Goldway insists it’s a fair plan, but Free Press ...

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in Morse v. Frederick, or, as it’s more commonly known, Bong Hits 4 Jesus. That phrase is at the center of perhaps the most important student free speech case in 38 years. Student Press ...

The Rwandan media were instrumental in stoking the genocidal violence that erupted in 1994. Since then, the government has proposed strict limits on what journalists can say. Attorney Enrique Armijo traveled to Rwanda to advise the government on its new media law.

Listeners respond to last week's story about whether wireless carriers are holding cell phone technology hostage.

Further Reading:
Last year's ruling last year's ruling allowing cell phone users to unlock their phones.
Instructions about how to unlock your phone.

Cell phones allow you to run your world from the backyard or the back of a cab. But there are still simple things that you just can’t do. Columbia law professor Tim Wu says that if wireless carriers wanted to, they could give customers much more. ...

A new review of British intellectual property laws suggests that copyrights for recordings should not be extended from 50 years to 95 years. Last year, OTM’s Rex Doane reported on how European copyright law determines which old recordings get re-released here.

The Justice Department wants to see the phone records of two New York Times reporters. The paper has resisted but this week the Supreme Court refused to intervene. Lawyer Jonathan Turley says this is why we need a federal shield law, and now.

As many a publisher knows, Britain's strict libel laws favor those who cry libel. Media organizations must leap over a near-impossible set of hurdles to defend themselves, and many end up self-censoring in order to avoid lawsuits. But this week, Britain's highest court took a major step towards reversing that ...

Republican Kevin Martin was on Capitol Hill this week, at a hearing to reconfirm him as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Asked by Senator Barbara Boxer about an FCC study on local media ownership, Martin suggested no such report had been completed. Reporter Jessica Smith talks with Bob about ...

Last summer, activist and freelance journalist Josh Wolf took part in an anti-globalization protest in San Francisco. A police car was vandalized and a policeman injured, and Wolf caught it all on tape. He received a subpoena for the entirety of his footage, but refused, and is now in jail ...

A few months ago, a former Pentagon analyst was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison for violating his security clearance by sharing government secrets with a couple of AIPAC lobbyists. But the lobbyists are also being prosecuted, even though they had no security clearance to violate. On Thursday, ...

In 1989, the Supreme Court ruled that state laws banning the desecration of the American flag were unconstitutional. Thus began a massive effort to change the Constitution. This week, the Senate once again took up the proposal. But with tensions on the issue so high, it’s easy to forget that ...

When several tech-gossip websites published advance details of an Apple device two years ago, the famously secretive company responded with a lawsuit. But the websites fought back, claiming that their anonymous authors were protected by California’s shield law for journalists. Last month, the court agreed. Technology lawyer Denise Howell tells ...

Employees who blow the whistle on workplace misconduct have long been accorded special legal protection from retribution. But if the employee is a public employee, and speaks out while still clocked in, that protection no longer applies. At least that’s what the Supreme Court says, in a split ruling handed ...

The legislative response to Nipple-Gate continues – last week a souped-up indecency bill was unanimously approved in the Senate. If signed, it will raise broadcast indecency fines to ten times their current level. Bob speaks with the bill’s sponsor, Kansas Senator Sam Brownback.

Politicians are well-accustomed to the chorus of cat-calls emanating from the blogosphere. But a town councilman in Delaware couldn't take the heat, and went to court to "out" one of his online anonymous critics, so that he could sue for defamation. Earlier this month, the Delaware Supreme Court ruled against ...

Corporation for Public Broadcasting chairman Kenneth Tomlinson continues to feel the heat from critics who accuse him of political meddling. This week, CPB's Inspector General agreed to investigate Tomlinson's hiring of a former GOP operative as CPB president. Bob and Brooke have the latest on the controversies in pub-casting.