For Immediate Release - June 8, 2001

For more information contact: Chris Finan, ABFFE, 917/509-0340, chris@abffe.com

NEW YORK, NY -- The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE), the bookseller's voice in the fight against censorship, reported today that law enforcement officials in Cleveland had unsuccessfully attempted to force the online retailer Amazon.com to produce a list of its customers who had purchased two sexually explicit audio CD's. The attempt failed when Amazon refused to turn over the information, and the Seattle prosecutor decided not to pursue the case further, according to ABFFE President Chris Finan.

Finan said that Amazon is the third bookseller in the past year to be targeted by police seeking the titles of books or other First Amendment-protected works purchased by particular customers. The first case occurred in April 2000 when police obtained a warrant to search the Tattered Cover Book Store in Denver. A subpoena was issued to several Borders Books and Music stores in the Kansas City area in a different case several months later. "The police are increasingly turning to booksellers as a source of information in their investigations, and the results could be disastrous for the First Amendment," Finan said. "If our customers don't believe we can protect the confidentiality of their purchases, they will lose the freedom to buy the books they want and need."

The Amazon case involved the biggest attempted violation of customer privacy so far, Finan said. In the Tattered Cover and Borders cases, the police at least limited the scope of their request for customer information to the records of individuals who were suspected of criminal activity. In the Amazon case, police obtained a search warrant authorizing them to examine the records of any Amazon customer who had purchased the two CD's, Cyborgasm and Cyborgasm II-The Edge of the Bed, during a four-month period in late 1999 and early 2000 and had them shipped to an address in 30 northeastern Ohio zip codes, an area of 722-square miles that encompasses over 30 cities and towns and nearly 1.6 million people. "They wanted Amazon to provide them with a list of suspects," Finan said. "It was a fishing expedition that would have left people all over the country wondering when the police might ask for a list of what they were reading, watching or listening to."

The Amazon search warrant was issued as part of an investigation of the stalking and harassment of over 40 women in the Cleveland area who were sent sexually suggestive material, including Cyborgasm and Cyborgasm II. The prime suspect in the case was Cleveland broadcaster Joel Rose, who killed himself in August, several days after police detained him to obtain blood and saliva samples. Police hoped to tie Rose to the crimes through DNA tests on saliva on the stamps taken from the packages used to mail the sexual material. The tests failed to identify Rose, just as he claimed they would in a note that he wrote shortly before his suicide. However, police continued to try to prove that he was involved.

Because Amazon is based in Seattle, the Cleveland authorities had to apply for a search warrant there. Although a judge issued the warrant in February, the Seattle prosecutor decided not to execute it. When Cleveland police closed the case in April, they reaffirmed their belief that Rose was the stalker.

ABFFE has led the fight against bookstore subpoenas and search warrants since 1998 when Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr issued a subpoena to Kramerbooks, a Washington, D.C., bookstore, for the book purchase records of former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. It has contributed financial support to Kramerbooks and Tattered Cover and filed amicus briefs in both cases. ABFFE also participated in an amicus brief on behalf of Borders in the Kansas City case and was prepared to do the same if Amazon had been forced to fight the Cleveland warrant in court. The Borders subpoena was quashed on First Amendment grounds. In the Tattered Cover case, police agreed not to execute the search warrant pending a court ruling on its constitutionality. Following a hearing in October, a judge ordered the Tattered Cover to turn over some of the information the police are seeking. The Tattered Cover has appealed this decision and will file its first appeal brief in Denver on Monday. ABFFE will file another amicus brief at the same time. The case is expected to reach the Colorado Supreme Court.