Q3 2012 Quick Links, Part 4 (Facebook, Content Regulation)
By Eric Goldman and Jake McGowan Facebook * Facebook settles “Friend Finder” lawsuit. Prior blog post. * Two girls, ages 12 and 13, face felony for creating a fake Facebook account. * Facebook says ‘Likes’ are Free Speech in Sheriff…
Employee’s Twitter Rant Means He Doesn’t Get Unemployment Benefits–Burns v. UCBR
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Burns v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, No. 1268 C.D. 2011 (Commonwealth Ct. Pa. Oct. 16, 2012) It’s almost become cliché to cite to examples of people fired due to their social media posts, but here…
A Reward Offer Still An Offer, Even if It’s Made on YouTube – Augstein v. Ryan Leslie
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani, with comments from Eric] Augstein v. Leslie, 2012 WL 4928914 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 17, 2012). As the post’s title implies, this case is about a reward offer that the plaintiff is trying to enforce. Ryan Leslie, a…
A Dark Side of Data Portability: Litigators Love It (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman In re White Tail Oilfield Services, L.L.C., 2012 WL 4857777 (E.D. La. Oct. 11, 2012) Cloud services are great, but they pose a number of challenges for users. For example, users may legitimately fear that vendors will…
If You’re a Prisioner Trying to Hide Your Unauthorized Phone, Don’t Brag About the Phone on Facebook! — Lloyd v. Shartle
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Lloyd v. Shartle, 11-1419 (JBS) (D.N.J.; Sept. 21, 2012) We’ve posted a ton about people imprudently posting stuff to their Facebook account that comes back to haunt them in litigation. (Eric has catalogued some of these…
Stored Communications Act Bars Disclosure of Facebook Records to Surviving Family Members in the UK
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] In re Request for Order Requiring Facebook, Inc. to Produce Documents and Things, C 12-80171 LHK (PSG) (N.D. Cal.; Sept. 20, 2012) In 2008, Sahar Daftary fell from a 12th floor building in England. Her surviving…
Social Media Discovery Roundup
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] * Douglas v. Riverwalk Grill, LLC, 11-15230 (E.D. Mich.; Aug 24, 2012) * Mailhoit v. Home Depot USA, Inc., 11-03892 DOC (SSx) (C.D. Cal.; Sept. 7, 2012) * Robinson v. Jones Lang Lasalle Americas, Inc., 12…
Florida Judge Disqualified Over Facebook Friendship With Prosecutor -– Domville v. Florida
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Domville v. Florida, No. 4D12 556 (Fl. Ct. App.; Sept. 5, 2012) I blogged briefly about a Florida ethics opinion that prohibits judges from friending lawyers who appear before them. (“Is the Florida Bar Taking Facebook…
Lawyer Who Advised Brother-in-Law Regarding the Use of Spyware on His Wife Disqualified in Ensuing Privacy Dispute — Zang v. Zang
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Zang v. Zang, 11-cv-00884 (S.D. Ohio; Aug. 30, 2012) This is another case involving surreptitious monitoring in the context of a divorce. I’ve half-jokingly mentioned that people who deploy monitoring or tracking software should seek the…
Family Court Says Facebook Photos of Grow Operation Wrongly Admitted in Termination Proceeding – In re A.D.W., et al.
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] In re A.D.W., A.L.W., and X.M.M., No 2-648 / 12-1060 (Iowa Ct. App.; Aug. 8, 2012) [pdf] This is an action to terminate parentage. The father and mother have a long and difficult history dealing with…