Court Rejects First Amendment Challenge to CAN-SPAM Indictment — US v. Smallwood
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani, with comments from Ethan Ackerman] US v. Smallwood, 09-CR-00249 (N.D. Tex.; July 15, 2011) First Amendment challenges to spam statutes are long shots at best, with Jaynes v. Virginia being the big exception. In this case,…
Employee Terminated for Accessing ‘Inappropriate’ Websites not Entitled to Unemployment Benefits — Berglund v. ITI
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Berglund v. Industrial Tech. Institute, No. 298227 (Mich. Ct. App. July 21, 2011) Berglund worked at Industrial Technology Institute and was terminated for “using his computer to access inappropriate websites” (and for printing materials unrelated to…
P2P Swarm Defendants Can’t Be Joined in the Same Lawsuit — Pac. Century Int’l Ltd. v. Does
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Pacific Century International Ltd. v. Does, C-11-02533 (DMR) (N.D. Cal. July 8, 2011) There have been a slew of recent procedural rulings in mass copyright cases, with plaintiffs mostly getting smacked down by courts. Plaintiffs have…
Judge Ware OKs Immediate Appeal of Street View ECPA Ruling — In re Google Inc. Street View Electronic Communications Litigation
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] In re Google Inc. Street View Electronic Communications Litigation, 2011 WL 2571632 (N.D. Cal. July 18, 2011) (Order granting Google’s request to certify and staying case) [pdf] Judge Ware recently denied Google’s request to avail itself…
Court Denies Injunction in Webcam Case Against Aarons — Byrd v. Aarons, Inc.
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Byrd, et al. v. Aaron’s, Inc., et al., 11-cv-00101-SJM-SPB (W.D. Pa. July 8, 2011). Magistrate report. Judge’s approval. Plaintiffs leased (and then purchased) their computer from Aspen Way, a franchisee of Aaron’s. Many of the computers…
Coventry First Withdraws Twittersquatting Lawsuit Against @Coventryfirst — Coventry First, LLC v. Does
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Coventry First, LLC v. Does, 11-cv-03700-JS (voluntarily dismissed) I previously posted about Coventry First’s lawsuit against the operator of the @coventryfirst Twitter account. (“Trademark Owner Sues Over Alleged Twittersquatting–Coventry First, LLC v. Does.”) I did not…
Court Orders Plaintiff to Turn Over Facebook and MySpace Passwords in Discovery Dispute — Zimmerman v. Weis Markets, Inc.
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Zimmerman v. Weis Markets, Inc., CV-09-1535 (Pa. Ct. Common Pleas; May 19, 2011) Courts continue to struggle with the discoverability of social network evidence in civil cases and the logisictal problems posed by these discovery disputes….
Virginia Appeals Court Affirms Conviction for Posting Threatening Rap Lyrics on MySpace — Holcomb v. Virginia
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Holcomb v. Virginia, 0546-10-1 (Va. Ct. App. June 7, 2011) Defendant was involved in a romantic relationship with the victim and fathered their child. The Defendant and the victim had a contentious custody dispute. Defendant posted…
NJ Appeals Court: No Privacy Violation When Spouse Uses GPS to Track Vehicle — Villanova v. Innovative Investigations, Inc.
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Villanova v. Innovative Investigations, Inc., et al., A-0654-10T2 (N.J. Ct. App. July 7, 2011) A New Jersey appeals court decided that a wife’s use of a GPS device to track her husband’s movements did not violate…
Supreme Court Strikes Down Statute Restricting Sale and Use of “Prescriber” Data on First Amendment Grounds — Sorrell v. IMS
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with comments by Eric] Sorrell v. IMS Health Inc., 10-779 (June 23, 2011) [pdf] The Supreme Court struck down a Vermont statute restricting the dissemination of “prescriber-identifiable” information for marketing purposes. While this case was viewed…