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For Immediate Release
Contact: media@aclu.org

ACLU In Federal Court In Seattle Wednesday Arguing To Protect Internet Users' Rights

Government Collection Of Amazon.com Customers' Personal Information Unconstitutional, Says Group

SEATTLE

The
American Civil Liberties Union will be in federal court in Seattle
Wednesday, October 13 to argue that requests by the North Carolina
Department of Revenue (NCDOR) for detailed information about purchases
made by Amazon.com customers are unconstitutional because they violate
Internet users' rights to free speech, anonymity and privacy.

The arguments come in a lawsuit
originally filed by Amazon.com in April 2010 to stop NCDOR from
collecting personally identifiable information about customers that
could be linked to their specific purchases on Amazon. The ACLU, ACLU of
North Carolina Legal Foundation and ACLU of Washington, on behalf of
seven Amazon.com customers, intervened in the lawsuit in June. NCDOR has
filed motions to have both the Amazon and ACLU complaints dismissed,
and Amazon has filed a motion for summary judgment.

More information about the case is available online at: www.aclu.org/free-speech-technology-and-liberty/amazoncom-llc-v-kenneth-r-lay

WHAT:
Arguments in Amazon.com, LLC v. Kenneth R. Lay,
a lawsuit to stop the NCDOR from collecting personally identifiable
information that could be linked to customers' specific purchases on
Amazon.

WHO:
Aden Fine, staff attorney with the
ACLU Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, will argue for the
intervenor plaintiffs before U.S. District Judge Marsha J. Pechman of
the Western District of Washington. Other attorneys on the case are Katy
Parker of the ACLU of North Carolina, Sarah Dunne of the ACLU of
Washington and cooperating attorney Venkat Balasubramani of the Focal
PLLC law firm.

WHEN:
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
1:30 p.m. PDT

WHERE:
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
700 Stewart Street, Courtroom 14206
Seattle, WA

The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.

(212) 549-2666