Hi-tech giant in free speech dispute

Intel, the US microchip manufacturer, is to fight a legal battle in California that will decide whether large corporations have the right to suppress free speech on their own internal computer systems.

In an appeals case pending before the California Supreme Court, the corporation, valued at $135 billion (Pounds 88 billion), is pitted against Ken Hamidi, a former employee.

Because of the many high-tech companies in California, particularly in Silicon Valley, the state's cyber-law rulings tend to be used as precedent not only elsewhere in the United States but also overseas.

The legal battle began when Mr Hamidi, 55, who was fired by Intel after a protracted dispute over workers' compensation, sent six batches of e-mails to thousands of the company's employees. The e-mails were highly critical of Intel.

Intel accused Mr Hamidi of trespassing on its internet computer system. The company obtained a court order banning Mr Hamidi from sending any further bulk e-mails to its 80,000 employees.

Intel's lawyers said that if free speech did not allow Mr Hamidi to walk into Intel's lobby and talk to employees, then it did not allow him to do the same using the company's internal e-mail system.

Intel's court order is now being appealed, with the case attracting national attention. Big business has lined up behind Intel to provide support while US civil libertarians, who accuse the firm of trying to avoid the First Amendment, have sided with Mr Hamidi, who initially represented himself. The ACLU union, plus 41 law professors and other civil libertarian and activist groups, have offered to help Mr Hamidi.

He is now represented free of charge by William McSwain, who wrote a law review article on the case while he was a student at Harvard Law School.

He said that his client was trying to put across a message that was in the public interest. He argues that the movement of electronic files cannot be regarded as trespassing.