The Westword reports that Reporters Without Borders, a group that usually targets dictatorships and other "iron-fist" nations that intimidate and imprison journalists, has taken note of Righthaven's shake down operation that began in Las Vegas and has stretched into European nations. The international watchdog and advocacy group is particularly concerned about the Righthaven case involving defendant Brian D. Hill. In a March 3, 2011 letter to Singleton, they wrote:
We were surprised to witness such behavior here, in the United States, while this is generally a phenomenon Reporters Without Borders witnesses in authoritarian regimes to silence netizens and intimidate journalists, bloggers and others. Therefore, we ask you to drop the lawsuit against him and find a reasonable compromise regarding his case.See: Article in full | Read: Letter in full
As MediaNews Group Inc. is one of the largest newspaper publishers in the US, we fully understand the copyright issues that The Denver Post has to face and we are not at all supporting the theft of a picture. However, this decision led Brian Hill to close down his website, which constitutes a very bad precedent for freedom of the press in the US. Though we believe news organizations deserve to make money off their creative work, Reporters Without Borders urges The Denver Post to reconsider its approach...
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