Comments on United States vs. Jones: What’s Old is New Again (Guest Blog Post)
By Ethan Ackerman with comments from Eric U.S. v. Jones No. 10–1259 (U.S. Supreme Court; Jan 23, 2012) In 2005 federal agents convinced a judge to issue a warrant so they could affix a cellular-based GPS tracker to the underside…
Copyright Take-Backs? Supreme Court Grants Cert in Golan v. Holder
by Ethan Ackerman The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a long-running copyright dispute over a 1994 law that retroactively restored copyright in some expired foreign works. In what ScotusBlog is calling “a major test of copyright power,” the Supreme…
Supreme Indecision: Costco v. Omega Gums up the (Watch)Works
By Ethan Ackerman In coming to a 4-4 procedural tie that defaults to upholding the ruling below, the Supreme Court let stand a 9th Circuit opinion territorially limiting the first sale defense’s applicability to domestically made goods. While still not…
No Wrath in this Quon–Ontario v. Quon
The Supreme Court passes on almost every issue before it in City of Ontario v. Quon. By Ethan Ackerman (with comments from Eric below) On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court released its opinion in City of Ontario v. Quon, a…
4th Amendment Updates in the State Courts
The US Supreme Court is not the only Supreme Court to recently focus on 4th Amendment privacy issues critical to technology. By Ethan Ackerman This blog recently covered the US Supreme Court’s decision to hear a 4th Amendment case dealing…
When the Supreme Court gets in your inbox
The Supreme Court agrees to review one of the very few Circuit Court opinions finding 4th Amendment protection for in-box content. Should netizens tremble or rejoice? By Ethan Ackerman The Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal by a…
CAN-SPAM Doesn’t Preempt CA Privacy Law–Powers v. Pottery Barn
by Ethan Ackerman On Sept. 19th, a California state appellate court held that CAN-SPAM doesn’t categorically trump state laws that may address email. Defendant retail store Pottery Barn was hoping it would agree with the initial ruling of the California…
AP Gets It Right and Then Overreaches–AP v. AHN
Faced with an allegedly cut-and-dried case of someone systematically copying and reusing its news articles, the Associated Press brought what should have been an easy copyright suit. Unfortunately, it also tried to lever these sympathetic facts to stretch the scope…
Expansive Preemption of State Anti-Spam Laws Is Curtailed
Courts are splitting over the scope of CAN-SPAM preemption, with even judges in the same federal division disagreeing. By Ethan Ackerman It is a truth universally recognized that a legal blogger whose legal positions cause them to eat crow or…
Q1 2009 CAN-SPAM Quick Recaps
by Ethan Ackerman While it seems most CAN-SPAM watchers (and even traditional media, apparently) await the results of key 9th Circuit and California Supreme Court cases, CAN-SPAM rulings in lower courts and in other Circuits continue to trickle in. Two…