Netwatch

$64 and a Chill

The Wild West atmospherics of free speech on the Internet may subside a bit after an electronic defamation suit was settled this week. In March, Brock N. Meeks, whose nose-thumbing CyberWire Dispatch is read by thousands, posted a newsletter calling direct-mail cyber-entrepreneur Benjamin Suarez a "scam" artist. The Ohio-based Suarez Corp. fired back with the first high-profile libel suit in electronic journalism's short history. Before long, Meeks had shelled out more than $25,000 in legal fees. Suarez finally decided the strapped journalist was "uncollectible." So his firm made Meeks an offer: pay $64 in court costs and fax it questions about future Suarez stories 48 hours ahead of publishing -- or pay a $10,000 fine. Meeks, who's admitted no errors but says he didn't want to spend years in litigation, grudgingly took the deal. "If people start to censor themselves," he says, "then we've lost the heart and soul of the Internet."

Clipping Ted's Wings

Even powerful politicians are finding that the Internet has speed bumps -- and stop signs. Senator Kennedy (D-Mass.), facing a surprisingly tough re-election battle, had to stop posting to his Web site. Rules prohibit any Senator from doing mass snail-mailings and using recording studios 60 days before an election. The cyberspace implication: use of the Senate computer falls under the same restrictions.