• by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, January 26, 2007

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has stepped up in the month-old dispute between ABC Radio and the blogger "Spocko."

In a letter dated Jan. 25, the civil liberties organization demanded that ABC retract claims that Spocko -- and his Internet service provider, 1&1 Internet -- violated ABC's copyright by posting audio files from a San Francisco station, KSFO, on his blog.

"Spocko's use of these audio clips was clearly protected 'fair use,'" wrote EFF attorney Matt Zimmerman in the letter. "[T]his conclusion should have been obvious to you and your attorneys."

Spocko's problems with ABC began late last year, when the company accused him of violating its copyright by posting clips from KSFO's virulent right-wing talk show hosts on his blog. Spocko not only took issue with the hosts' comments -- such as one by host Melanie Morgan calling for the execution of New York Times editor Bill Keller -- but also wrote letters to the station's advertisers, condemning their support of KSFO.

ABC fired back with a cease-and-desist letter, sent to Spocko and 1&1, prompting the ISP to take down Spocko's blog. He later found another ISP -- but, according to the EFF, the new service charges him more.

"ABC/KSFO's complaints amount to nothing more than an attempt to silence an effective critic," Zimmerman wrote to ABC. "Because those threats are legally baseless, they should not have been made in the first place."