The Madrid Booksellers' Guild is using a digital tool that automatically pulls around 80,000 words from Miguel de Cervantes' "Don Quixote," a classic of Spanish and western literature, to recreate online a recent court-banned book. The website was no longer available Tuesday, less than two weeks after its launch. LISBON, Portugal (AP) - When Miguel de Cervantes wrote "Don Quixote" in the 17th century, he couldn't have imagined that the novel would be used as a weapon in a modern battle over freedom of speech in Spain. In defiance of a court order banning a book that investigates drug trafficking in Spain, the Madrid Booksellers’ Guild has launched an online tool that automatically pulls some 80,000 words from the classic novel to piece together the contents of the banned work. The booksellers say the tool “demonstrates how ridiculous and anachronistic” the judge’s banning order was in a digital age. (AP Photo/Paul White, File)

The booksellers' move is the latest flare-up in a wider legal and political dispute over freedom of expression that has been rumbling in Spain in recent months.
A Madrid court issues an order shutting down a website that uses extracts from Don Quixote to recreate the book Farina. Farina, an investigation of drug trafficking, is the subject of a freedom of speech debate after a court halted sales ahead of a libel case.