Comments on the Megaupload Prosecution (a Long-Delayed Linkwrap)
By Eric Goldman [I’ve been working on this linkwrap for 3 months. Linkwraps rarely improve with age. At this point, it’s not even clear the US government has a case due to its repeated gaffes. Nevertheless, I’ve decided to post…
512(f) Plaintiff Can’t Get Discovery to Back Up His Allegations of Bogus Takedowns–Ouellette v. Viacom
By Eric Goldman Ouellette v. Viacom Intern., Inc., 2012 WL 1435703 (D. Mont. April 25, 2012) Ouellette sued Viacom for sending allegedly bogus takedown notices for videos he posted to YouTube. His case has gone nowhere. In 2011, his ADA…
Fourth Circuit Slams Juror’s Use of Wikipedia—US v. Lawson
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] US v. Lawson, 10-4831 (4th Cir.; Apr. 20, 2012) Lawson and his co-defendants were convicted of violating the “Animal Welfare Act” through their participation in “gamefowl derbies” (cockfighting). One of the elements of the crime was…
Facebook “Likes” Aren’t Speech Protected By the First Amendment–Bland v. Roberts
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with comments from Eric] Bland v. Roberts, 2012 US Dist. Lexis 57530, 4:11cv45 (E.D. Va.; Apr. 24, 2012) Bland and his cohorts worked in the Hampton Sheriff’s Office, under B.J. Roberts. Roberts ran for re-election against…
MySpace Profile and Friends List May Be Trade Secrets (?)–Christou v. Beatport
By Eric Goldman Christou v. Beatport, LLC, 2012 WL 872574 (D. Colo. March 14, 2012). The complaint. The Justia page. [I’ve mentioned before that sometimes blog posts get stuck. This is one of those posts. I initially drafted the post…
Misuse of Family Photograph by Photo Studio Supports Misappropriation Claim–Lee v. Picture People
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Lee v. The Picture People, Inc., K10C-07-002 (RBY) (Del. Sup. Ct.; Mar. 19, 2012) Plaintiffs had their two year old’s picture taken at The Picture People, a store engaged in the business of family photography. At…
Internet Intermediary Law Slides from Stanford Guest Lecture
By Eric Goldman I recently guest-lectured at an Internet Law course at Stanford, run by Jennifer Granick and Richard Salgado. My slides. Jennifer asked me to cover 47 USC 230 and 17 USC 512 in a single session. I know…
Court Orders Disclosure of Psychic Chat Records in Retaliation Case – Glazer v. Fireman’s Fund
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Glazer v. Fireman’s Fund Ins. Co., 11 Civ. 4374 (PGG) (FM) (S.D.N.Y.; Apr. 4, 2012). The complaint. Glazer (her LinkedIn page) sued Fireman’s Fund Insurance, alleging that Fireman’s Fund retaliated against her because she complained about…
SuperPoke! Pets Virtual Gold Dispute Worth Over $5 Million–Abreu v. Slide
By Eric Goldman Abreu v. Slide, Inc., 2012 WL 1123367 (N.D. Cal. April 3, 2012). The Justia page. Google bought Slide, which operated the SuperPoke! Pets online game. Wikipedia has some of the game’s history. As part of the gameplay,…
Circumstantial Authentication Strikes Again in a MySpace Evidence Case — State v. Tienda
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Tienda v. Texas, 358 S.W.3d 633 (Tx. Ct. Crim. App.; Feb. 8, 2012) This is another MySpace evidence case. Defendant was convicted of murder. The victim exchanged words with a group of people outside a nightclub,…