Pennsylvania Appeals Courts Says no to Circumstantial Authentication of Text Messages — State v. Koch

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] State v. Koch, 2011 PA Super 201 (Sept. 16, 2011) Courts continue to struggle with the authentication of electronic communications. Although several courts have opined that the rules of authentication are not upended by new technologies…

Court Declines to Dismiss or Transfer Lawsuit Over @OMGFacts Twitter Account — Deck v. Spartz, Inc.

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Deck v. Spartz, Inc., 11-Cv-1123 (E.D. CA.; Sept. 27, 2011) I posted about the lawsuit involving the @OMGFacts Twitter account some time ago. (“Thoughts on the Lawsuit Over the @OMGFacts Twitter Account.”) The account was created…

Colorado Judge Drills Righthaven and Awards Attorneys’ Fees–Righthaven v. Wolf

By Eric Goldman Righthaven LLC v. Wolf, 1:11-cv-00830-JLK (D. Colo. Sept. 27, 2011) Another judge, this time in Colorado, issued another stinging rebuke to Righthaven. This time it was Judge Kane in Colorado, and his decision will lead to the…

In Facebook’s Lawsuit Against Alleged Spammer, Court Denies MaxBounty’s Motion to Dismiss

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Facebook v. MaxBounty, 10-Cv-04712 (N.D. Cal. Sept 14, 2011) Facebook is suing MaxBounty for allegedly running an affiliate network which dupes people into fanning Facebook pages, promoting the page to their friends, and signing up for…

Stock Trading Message Board Protected by 47 USC 230–Deer Consumer Products v. Little

By Eric Goldman Deer Consumer Products v. Little, Index No. 650823/11 (NY Sup. Ct. Aug. 31, 2011) SeekingAlpha is a message board for stock traders. This is their second appearance on the blog. In Desai v. Clark, a SeekingAlpha author…

Failure to Delete Third Party Comments Supports a Malice Finding in Defamation Case–Tanner v. Ebbole

By Eric Goldman Tanner v. Ebbole, 2011 WL 4425540 (Ala. Civ. App. Ct. Sept. 23, 2011) Competitive animosity can be found in every industry, but it sometimes amazes me just how sharp it can. Today’s case involves competing tattoo shops…

Gilbert Arenas’ Tweets Sinks His Motion to Enjoin “The Basketball Wives” — Arenas v. Shed Media

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Arenas v. Shed Media, CV 11-05279 (C.D. Cal.; Aug 22, 2011) Arenas is a basketball player for the Orlando Magic. He goes by various nicknames, including “Agent Zero, Agent Arenas, and Hibachi.” Arenas and Laura Govan…

iPhone Privacy Class Action Dismissed for Lack of Standing — In re iPhone App. Litigation

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] In re iPhone Application Litigation, 2011 WL 4403963 (N.D. Cal.; Sept. 20, 2011) iPhone users sued Apple and various advertising networks alleging that defendants violated their privacy rights “by . . . allowing third party applications…

Court Revisits and Dismisses Fair Credit Reporting Act Lawsuit Against Spokeo — Robins v. Spokeo, Inc.

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Robins v. Spokeo, Inc., 10-CV-05306 (C.D. Cal.; Sept. 19, 2011) Spokeo collects information about individuals and allegedly markets this information to employers and HR professionals. Robins sued Spokeo in a putative class action, alleging violations of…

Copyright Preempts State Tort Claims Over Loss of Control Over Website — 78th Infantry Div. v. Oprendek

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] 78th Infantry Division, WWII Living History Ass’n v. Oprendek, 11-165 (D.N.J.; Aug 4, 2011) This is another web vendor dispute. Professor Goldman posted about one earlier this week. As in that case, here the parties did…