Ca. Court of Appeal Vacates $100,000 Non-Party Discovery Sanction Against Facebook — In re J.G.
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] In re J.G., A128898; A129157 (Ca Ct. App.; Sept. 30, 2011) Background: This involved a juvenile proceeding where J.G., a minor, was charged with the offenses of forcible sexual penetration and false imprisonment. During the proceedings,…
9th Cir.: ECPA Protects Non-Citizen Communications Stored in the US — Suzlon Energy v. Microsoft
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Suzlon Energy Ltd. v. Microsoft Corp., 10-35793 (9th Cir. Oct. 3, 2011) [pdf] Suzlon Energy sought emails from Microsoft for use against Sridhar, an Indian citizen, in a civil lawsuit pending in Australia. It filed a…
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…
Mixed DMCA Online Safe Harbor Ruling in Cloud-Based Music Locker Case–Capitol v. MP3Tunes
By Eric Goldman Capitol Records, Inc. v. MP3Tunes, LLC, 2011 WL 3667335 (SDNY Aug. 22, 2011). Background. This case involves MP3Tunes.com and Sideload.com. MP3Tunes is a music storage locker. Small lockers are free, but more storage is available at a…
Deep Packet Inspection Lawsuits: NebuAd Partner ISP Wins Summary Judgment — Kirch v. Embarq
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with comments from Eric] Kirch v. Embarq, 10-2047-JAR (D. Kan. Aug. 19, 2011) The fallout from Nebuad’s ill-fated deep packet inspection continues to percolate through the courts. Plaintiffs sued NebuAd and ISPs in the same forum…
Federal Geolocation Bills Differ on Scope and Damages (Guest Blog Post)
By Sonya Ziaja [Sonya is an American attorney and MSc. candidate at University of Oxford. She writes regularly for LegalMatch and Shark. Laser. Blawg.] Congress will be considering at least two geolocation privacy bills this term. The bipartisan Geolocation Privacy…
Another Lawsuit over Flash Cookies Fails — Bose v. Interclick
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani, with comments from Eric] Bose v. Interclick, Inc., et al., 10-cv-09183-DAB (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 17, 2011) Bose sued Interclick, an advertising network, and various advertisers (including McDonald’s, Mazda and Microsoft) over “flash cookies” and “history sniffing.” As…
Ikon Office Solutions Had no Duty to Disclose That Office Equipment Retained Data — Putnam Bank v. Ikon Office Solutions
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Putnam Bank v. Ikon Office Solutions, Inc., 10-cv-1067 (WWE) (D. Conn.; July 5, 2011) Putnam Bank filed a putative class action on behalf of those who purchased and leased office equipment from Ikon, alleging that Ikon…
Sixth Circuit: Email and Phone Advocacy Campaign Can Violate the Computer Fraud & Abuse Act — Pulte Homes v. LIUNA
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Pulte Homes, Inc. v. Laborers’ Int’l Union, et al., 09-2245; 10-1673 (6th Cir. Aug 2, 2011) I blogged about a case involving a labor dispute between Pulte Homes and Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA)….