Vonage Isn’t Liable For Disclosing ‘Unlisted’ Phone Number
Miller is a psychologist who undertakes efforts to keep his phone number unlisted. As part of his work, he evaluated the mental health of criminal defendants. (For various reasons, his family wished to keep the number unlisted as well). He…
Facebook May be On the Hook for Scanning Private Messages for Links
This is a privacy lawsuit against Facebook: Plaintiffs allege that Facebook scans the content of their private messages, and if there is a link to a web page contained in that message, Facebook treats it as a “like” of the…
Fair Use Protects Sending Expert Witness’ Resume to Opposing Counsel–Devil’s Advocate v. Zurich Insurance
Most of us probably have never thought about the coprightability of our resumes or curriculum vitae. Most resumes are highly functional documents, i.e., we don’t write them for fun; and they are just an input into a more important output…
Will A ‘Cast Of Thousands’ Become A ‘Cast Of Thousands…Of Plaintiffs’? A Preview of Garcia v. Google (Forbes Cross-Post)
[Note: I wrote the following post on Monday before the oral arguments. I haven’t had a chance to view Monday’s oral arguments, but from the news reports and Twitter feeds, it sounds like Kozinski and McKeown will be squaring off….
First Amendment Bars School Discipline For Student’s Rap Video About School Coaches
Bell was a student at Itawamba Agricultural High School in Fulton, Mississippi. A few female students told Bell that two male athletic coaches had made inappropriate comments toward them. Bell, an aspiring rapper, made a video about the two coaches….
Appeals Court Affirms Harassment Order Based on Vague Testimony of Indirect Contacts
This is a civil harassment case. Kwan and Murcia both worked at CVS but at different stores (both as managers). Kwan filed a request for a harassment restraining order against Murcia, alleging that he was cyber harassing her and texted…
Bad Idea: Overdisclosing People’s Positive STD Status–Doe v. Successfulmatch
This is a privacy lawsuit brought by people who signed up for a dating site (Positive Singles) for people with STDs. Plaintiffs allege that Successfulmatch, the company that operates the site, made numerous privacy representations stating in its website copy…
Android ID Isn’t Personally Identifiable Information Under the Video Privacy Protection Act
This is another Video Privacy Protection Act lawsuit. The Cartoon Network has an app on the Android platform. Plaintiff (not a minor) downloaded the app. He complains that The Cartoon Network’s disclosure of his viewing history to a third party…
Court Rejects Argument That ECPA Does not Apply to Spousal Interception of Email–LaRocca v. LaRocca
Eloisa LaRocca alleged that her former husband installed spyware on her computer and intercepted emails she sent. The ex-husband moved for summary judgment on the basis that ECPA did not apply to spousal interceptions of electronic communications. The ex-husband also…
When Does Online Criticism Become “Stalking”?–Ellis v. Chan
This is an online harassment dispute. Ellis, the plaintiff/petitioner, is the author of a poem called “The Dash”. She has achieved some degree of public figure status through the poem’s notoriety. The poem is about a person who speaks at…