Suppression of free speech is no less pernicious because it occurs in the digital, rather than the physical, realm. Whatever the challenges of applying the Constitution to ever-advancing technology, the basic principles of freedom of speech and the press, like the First Amendment's command, do not vary when a new and different medium for communication appears. Essential First Amendment freedoms are abridged when the Patent and Trademark Office ("PTO") is permitted to balkanize the Internet, granting patent owners the right to exact heavy taxes on widely-used conduits for online expression.838 F.3d at 1323 (citations and internal quotation marks omitted).
