Constitutional law scholars are attuned always to commercial actions that affect First Amendment rights.  Sam Keller, a former college quarterback, filed a lawsuit in 2010 against Electronic Arts, a video game manufacturer.  Electronic Arts has a license from the NCAA to manufacture and market “NCAA Football,” a game which uses player images that clearly depict actual student athletes.  Keller is suing for a violation of his right of publicity.  Electronic Arts is claiming that its games are protected speech under the First Amendment. A New York Times article is available at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/16/sports/16videogame.html?_r=1

A second timely example of the First Amendment being at issue is seen through Facebook’s virtual police squad, which removes content from user pages that is illegal or that violates Facebook’s terms of service.  See a New York Times article at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/13/technology/13facebook.html