Lance Duston, blogging on Maine tourism, is the subject of federal lawsuit for posts critical of the Maine Office of Tourism. I'm just catching up on the story, but you can get an overview (from Lance) here .

I'm looking for alternative takes, but from what I've read so far, the lawsuit seems like a massive abuse. Unlike newspapers, bloggers don't have legal teams at the ready to defend their first amendment rights. (And it seems a little ironic that a government public relations branch is resorting to a lawsuit rather than opting to compete in the public relations arena. They must not have much confidence in their own product.)

It's good news that the Media Bloggers Association has stepped in to assist Duston. Jeff Jarvis has weighed in on this, as has Globe blogger Maura Welch.