Ethics Newsline®

DETROIT
Ford Motor Co. last week won a temporary restraining order requiring a Web site operator to stop publishing documents which Ford says are confidential.

Ford has accused Robert Lane, publisher of BlueOvalNews.com, of violating U.S. copyright and trade laws for allegedly posting and offering to sell Ford’s proprietary information — including blueprints, internal memos, and performance test results — over the Internet.

Lane argues that Ford is simply trying to silence his Web site, which publishes information about alleged Ford design flaws, information that is often leaked anonymously by Ford employees, the Detroit Free Press reported.

A U.S. district judge ordered Lane to strip his site of the materials in question until further court review, which is scheduled for this week.

The controversy has prompted renewed debate over free speech rights and the Internet, ecommerce consultant Wally Brock told the Free Press. “The question is whether Ford can sue to stop this site or whether it can simply do damage control and watch the guy continue,” Brock said.