Support free speech, find author of Ipodhash

On the 14th Ian Ramage of O'Melveny & Myers LLP contacted me regarding the Ipodhash project (hosted at BluWiki). They represent Apple and requested that I take the Ipodhash project offline.

Because BluWiki is a free service and doesn't have much cash or a legal team, I swallowed my pride and complied. Since then, the story has been picked up by slashdot and arstechnicia. Both sites linked to the page where I asked for legal assistance from anyone who has experience in these issues.

I've received a flood of emails from interested individuals who want to help. Most importantly, I was contacted by Fred von Lohmann from the EFF. They're currently evaluating whether they will represent us against any potential Apple litigation. This would be great, because it will enable BluWiki to continue to host the project while working with EFF to address Apple's concerns.

However, before the EFF commits to representing us against Apple, they want to speak to the author of the Ipodhash project on BluWiki. I'm posting this public plea hoping that the author, or someone who knows the author, might read it.

Plea to the author of IpodHash:
Please contact Fred at the EFF. Fred is looking to protect your right to free speech online. But he can't do so if we don't work with him. Because Fred has expressed interest in representing both you and BluWiki, all communication is confidential and protected under the attorney-client privilege. Communication with Fred can not be released in court.

If you do not contact Fred, and the EFF does not represent us, we will be forced to comply with all of Apple's demands. If Apple chooses to litigate against us, we will probably exhaust all funds in our defense. Out of money, BluWiki could ultimately be forced offline. This would be one more small step backwards in the fight for the right to free speech.

Fred's phone number is +1 415 436 9333 x123 and his email is fred@eff.org. You can find his PGP key here.

I sincerely hope that you contact the EFF so that we can restore this project and work with Apple in a way that does not violate BluWiki's founding principle: giving everyone the tools to express themselves online without censorship.