Privacy, Business and Law

On September 28, the Honorable Wayne R. Andersen of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois issued a landmark ruling in the seminal case of Commodity Trend Service, Inc. v. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, No. 97-C-2362, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15877 (N.D. Ill. Sept. 28, 1999). The suit was brought by Commodity Trend Service Inc., now called CTS Financial Publishing Inc. CTS operates electronic publications about the securities and commodity futures markets, one of which is based on a computerized commodity futures trading system that CTS administers. The Court ruled, in effect, that the application of Section 4m(1) of the Commodity Exchange Act — a provision that effectively requires publishers dispensing “impersonal” futures market information to register with the CFTC — is an unconstitutional attempt to regulate speech in violation of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Specifically, the Court found that the section constitutes an “unconstitutional prior restraint as applied to providers of impersonal commodity trading advice.” For an article about the decision, see Futures Regulation – Commodity Trading Advisors: CFTC Registration Requirement on Publisher Regulates Speech, Violates First Amendment, 31(39) Sec. Reg. & Law Rep. (BNA) 1338 (Oct. 8, 1999). The decision follows a June 21, 1999 ruling by the Honorable Ricardo Urbina of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia holding that the CFTC’s effort to require the licensing of providers of information and opinions via Web sites, software, books and newsletters violates the First Amendment.