Quieted E-Mail Protester Still Rides Herd on Intel

Dusting himself off after his recent legal setback against Intel Corp., Ken Hamidi is getting back in the saddle. Literally.

The disgruntled former Intel engineer is planning a Pony Express-style protest of a recent California court ruling that bars him from sending e-mail to Intel employees.

Riding a steed that he has dubbed “Ponytium III,” Hamidi said he will travel by horseback to Intel headquarters in Santa Clara on Tuesday to deliver a new message “the old-fashioned way.”

“This event is intended to illustrate the absurdity of Intel’s actions,” said Hamidi, 52. “Intel’s position is a serious threat to freedom of speech in cyberspace.”

Hamidi has had a long-running feud with Intel that dates back to a workers’ compensation dispute. He runs a Web site critical of the company, and last year sent e-mail diatribes to more than 30,000 Intel employees.

Intel sued, and in April a Superior Court judge in Sacramento ruled that the e-mails were a form of trespass. Judge John R. Lewis issued a permanent injunction barring Hamidi from sending e-mail to the semiconductor company’s employees.

The decision marked the first time a court had ruled on whether companies can fence off their employees from unsolicited e-mail, blocking speech that would be protected by the 1st Amendment in other settings.

The ruling has drawn protests from legal scholars and free-speech advocacy groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Hamidi, who lives in Sacramento, said he has appealed the ruling and will continue to make regular deliveries of e-mail to Intel employees “by other means.” The first of those deliveries is set for 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, when, Hamidi says, he will trot onto Intel’s campus dressed as a Pony Express rider and carrying a bag of mail.

Informed of Hamidi’s plans, Intel officials chuckled. “One thing is for certain,” said spokesman Chuck Malloy. “Ken does know how to exercise his right of free speech.”

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Times staff writer Greg Miller can be reached at [email protected].