Artist Sues NSA, Homeland Security Over Move To Stop Sales
BALTIMORE (AP) -- A Minnesota artist is suing the National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security after they issued cease-and-desist letters against his merchandise.
The Daily Record reports that Dan McCall, who runs LibertyManiacs.com, filed the suit in federal court in Baltimore this week claiming the agencies violated his First Amendment rights.
McCall sells T-shirts, mugs and posters with images he creates, often with satirical messages. To ridicule electronic surveillance disclosures, he paired the NSA's official seal with the slogan: "The only part of the government that actually listens."
Zazzle.com, which prints some of McCall's designs on merchandise, received the letters in 2011, but McCall did not learn of them until June, when Zazzle informed him it would take down his NSA-inspired items. He has moved those items to another printer.
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