Stalking Conviction For Friending a Prosecutor’s Facebook Friends?–State v. Moller
Online stalking and threats are hot topics today, especially in light of the Supreme Court granting cert in US v. Elonis (we plan to recap that case before oral arguments). Today’s case highlights the grey area between veiled threats and…
Griping Blogger Can Show Photo Of Griping Target–Katz v. Chevaldina
Chelvadina griped about Raanan Katz on her blog. As is common practice for bloggers, Chelvadina included a headshot photo of Katz. The court says the photo is unflattering (I’ll let you decide). Chevaldina found the photo on an Israeli website…
Bad Idea: Shaming An Employee On Facebook For Health Issues–Shoun v. Best Formed Plastics
Jane Stewart, a company manager, posted the following on her Facebook page: Isn’t [it] amazing how Jimmy experienced a 5 way heart bypass just one month ago and is back to work, especially when you consider George Shoun’s shoulder injury…
The Supreme Court’s Riley Decision Won’t Change Much In The Field (Guest Blog Post)
[Eric’s Note: This guest blog post is from my colleague Kyle Graham, who teaches and writes in the area of Criminal Procedure, Evidence and others. I’m pleased to share his expert take on the Riley ruling, followed by a few…
Section 230 Immunizes Website For Super-User’s Doxxing–Internet Brands v. Jape
Internet Brands runs a UGC website for boating enthusiasts. It gives some super-users the power to delete promotional posts, but “Spam deleters are not authorized to ban users, remove posts or delete discussion threads,” and they don’t get paid. Although…
Another Section 230 Win For Ripoff Report–Torati v. Hodak
Daniel Hodak posted negative comments about Hezi Torati to Ripoff Report. Torati sued Hodak and, in this ruling, asks for permission to add Ripoff Report and Ed Magedson as defendants. The court quickly shuts down this request. The court first…
Software Manufacturer Denied Section 230 Immunity–Hardin v. PDX
Hardin suffered significant personal injuries due to the drug Lamotrigine. Hardin bought the drug from the grocery store Safeway’s pharmacy department. She claims that Safeway provided her with a partially redacted “monograph,” the lengthy “drug information pamphlet” that pharmacies provide…
More Proof That Facebook Isn’t The Right Place To Bitch About Your Job–Talbot v. Desert View
Joseph Talbot was a nurse at Desert View Care Center. Talbot posted to Facebook: Ever have one of those days where you’d like to slap the ever loving bat snot out of a patient who is just being a jerk…
Email Harvesting: Repeated Emails From LinkedIn May Violate Publicity Rights
This is a lawsuit alleging that LinkedIn improperly mined users’ contact lists and sent them repeated invitation emails. While Judge Koh eliminated the Stored Communications Act and California anti-hacking statute claims, a chunk of the lawsuit remains. Harvesting contact lists…
EFF Pub Trivia Night Recap
Last Thursday, I participated in the 7th Annual EFF Pub Trivia Night at Bluxome Street Winery in SOMA. My photo album. The EFF’s Kurt Opsahl was our Master of Ceremonies (in a smoking jacket, no less) and main question-writer. Several…