Protip: Don’t Send Emails Threatening to “Inflict the Maximum Amount of Financial Pain” Allowed By Law
Dr. Karan wanted to open a call center in India to assist doctors in handling patient calls. He entered into agreements with Computech and mLogica, two entities owned by his childhood friend, Amit Okhandiar. Under the agreement, the two entities…
AAUP Says Kansas Regents’ New Faculty Social Media Use Policy Violates Academic Freedom (Guest Blog Post)
[Eric’s introductory note: this guest blog post comes from my colleague Stephen Diamond. You may have seen that last week the Kansas Board of Regents adopted a “social media use” policy for faculty members, which sadly represents the kind of…
Revenge Porn Plot Leads To Criminal Conviction–New York v. Piznarski (Forbes Cross-Post)
Recently, the California Attorney General’s office got a lot of attention for arresting Kevin Bollaert, the alleged operator of a revenge porn website. While the arrest was widely popular, it raised many questions. Why did the prosecutors seemingly stretch to…
Should We Cheer The California Attorney General’s Revenge Porn Arrest–Or Find It Alarming? (Forbes Cross-Post)
The California Attorney General’s office announced the arrest of Kevin Christopher Bollaert for his role in a revenge porn scheme. Most folks are cheering the arrest for understandable reasons: revenge porn is odious, especially when victims must pay to remove…
Prosecutor Makes Ill-Advised Tweets During Criminal Case–State v. Polk
Polk was convicted of assaulting an 11 year old some 20 years after the event, in part based on DNA evidence. The prosecutor (@JenniferJoyceCA) tweeted about the case during the trial: Circuit Attorney Jennifer M. Joyce repeatedly used her Twitter…
SPEECH Act Defendant Gets $48,000 In Attorneys’ Fees–Trout Point Lodge Ltd. v. Handshoe
The SPEECH Act combats libel tourism, the process of trying to enforce an international defamation ruling in the United States if the ruling isn’t consistent with U.S. law. The leading SPEECH Act case is Trout Point Lodge Ltd. v. Handshoe….
Police Officer’s Facebook Post Criticizing Her Boss Isn’t Protected Speech–Graziosi v. Greenville
Graziosi was a Sergeant of the Greenville Police Department. She alleges she was wrongfully discharged due to comments she posted to Facebook. She posted the following to her page and to the “Elect Chuck Jordan Mayor” page: I just found out…
Facebook Complaints About Boss’s Creepy Hands Can’t Salvage Retaliation/Harassment Claims
DeBord worked for Mercy Health systems. Some five years into her tenure, she wrote several Facebook posts during work hours complaining about her boss, Weaver: [at 900am] Sara DeBord loves it when my boss adds an extra $600.00 on my…
How Doctors Should Respond To Negative Online Reviews (Forbes Cross-Post)
Most businesses have mixed emotions about online consumer reviews, but the doctor community has opposed consumer reviews of their services to an unusual degree. Why? Some possible explanations: Doctors are sensitive about their reputation. Small business owners (including doctors) have…
Should TheDirty Website Be Liable For Encouraging Users To Gossip? (Forbes Cross-Post)
A major Internet Law battle is brewing in the Sixth Circuit federal appellate court in Kentucky. Potentially at stake is the future of the Web 2.0 ecosystem and user-generated content–which is why many of the Internet’s biggest and high-profile companies…