RadioShack May Be Liable for Accessing Images from Recycled Customer Cellphone — Steele v. RadioShack

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Steele v. RadioShack Corp., 11-14021 (E.D. Mich.; Feb. 3, 2012) Steele bought a new phone at RadioShack, after which a RadioShack employee transferred the data from Steele’s old phone to his new one. Steele also left…

Courts Continue to Grapple with Discovery Disputes Around Social Networking Evidence

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Tompkins v. Detroit Metro Airport, 10-10413 (E.D. Mich.; Jan. 18, 2012) This is a slip and fall case where the plaintiff alleges that injuries she suffered at Detroit’s Metro airport affected her quality of life and…

Facebook Gets Decisive Win Against Pseudo-Competitor Power Ventures — Facebook v. Power Ventures

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani, with comments from Eric] Facebook, Inc. v. Power Ventures, Inc., et al., C 08-05780 JW (N.D. Cal.; Feb. 16, 2012) The long-running dispute between Facebook and Power Ventures came to a close last week, with Judge…

Another Data Loss Case Tossed on Article III Grounds–Whitaker v. Health Net

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Whitaker v. Health Net of California, Inc., Civ S-11-0910 KHM-DAD (E.D. Cal.; Jan. 19, 2012) This is another data breach class action. Plaintiffs tried to squeeze their claims through a narrow opening left by Ninth Circuit…

Posting Family Photos to Facebook With Snarky Comments Isn’t Harassment of Family Member — Olson v. LaBrie

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with comments from Eric] Olson v. LaBrie, 2012 WL 426585 (Minn. App. Ct. Feb. 13, 2012) This case is what happens when a headline from The Onion comes to life. Aaron Olson sought a harassment restraining…

Comments on Twitter’s Country-by-Country Tweet Removal Announcement

By Venkat Balasubramani, with comments from Eric. Twitter recently announced its decision to censor tweets on a country-by-country basis. People were up in arms and planned a #twitterblackout. It was a big story last week. (Needless to say, I didn’t…

Vendor Fails to Form Either an Online or Paper Contract With Customers–Kwan v. Clearwire

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Kwan v. Clearwire Corp., C09-1392JLR (W.D.Wash.; Jan. 3, 2012) Professor Goldman blogged recently about a case involving Facebook where the court enforced Facebook’s terms of use and based on a venue clause in Facebook’s terms transferred…

Court Denies Kravitz’s Motion to Dismiss PhoneDog’s Amended Claims — PhoneDog v. Kravitz

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] PhoneDog v. Kravitz, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10561 (N.D. Cal.; Jan. 30, 2012) PhoneDog and Kravitz are fighting over ownership of the Twitter account Kravitz used while he was working for PhoneDog. In an earlier order,…

Federal Prosecution Over “Threats” on Craigslist – US v. Stock

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] US v. Stock, Cr. No. 11-182 (W.D. Pa.; Jan. 23, 2012) I blogged about a case before where a defendant was charged under a federal threat statute of posting a threatening video to YouTube. (“Court Finds…

Connecticut Supreme Court Says no Error in Admission of Facebook Photos at Probation Hearing — State v. Altajir

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] State v. Altajir, SC 18706 (Conn. Supreme Ct.; Jan. 3, 2012) Altajir was involved in an automobile accident while she was under the influence. One of her passengers died. She was sentenced to five years in…