Ex-Employees Awarded $4,000 for Email Snooping by Employer — Pure Power Boot Camp v. Warrior Fitness Boot Camp

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Pure Power Boot Camp, Inc. v. Warrior Fitness Boot Camp, LLC, 08-civ-4810 (S.D.N.Y.; Dec. 22, 2010) Email snooping and computer fraud statutes (Stored Communications Act; Computer Fraud and Abuse Act) are starting to play a starring…

Court Approves TD Ameritrade Data Breach Settlement — In re TD Ameritrade

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] In re TD Ameritrade Accountholder Litigation, 07-2852 (N.D. Cal.; Dec. 20, 2010) (Order granting preliminary approval of settlement) A class action lawsuit arising out of a TD Ameritrade data breach looks like it’s winding its way…

Nov.-Dec. 2010 Quick Links, Part 5

By Eric Goldman Taxes * Amazon.com, LLC v New York State Dept. of Taxation & Fin., 2010 NY Slip Op 07823 (N.Y. App. Div. Nov. 4, 2010). A NY appellate court rejected Overstock’s/Amazon’s facial challenges to “affiliates tax” but revived…

Nov.-Dec. 2010 Quick Links, Part 2

By Eric Goldman Wikileaks Wikileaks has been on my mind for the past 2 months, but the stories have moved faster than I can. From my perspective, Wikileaks is principally a story about The Empire Strikes Back (It is a…

Deep Packet Inspection (NebuAd) Litigation: Court Dismisses ECPA Claim but CFAA Claim Continues

[Post by Venkat with comments by Eric] Mortensen v. Bresnan Comm., CV 10-13-BLG-RFC (D. Mont. Dec. 13, 2010) A district court in Montana hearing one of the many NebuAd “deep packet inspection” lawsuits partially granted a defendant’s motion to dismiss….

Domain Name Privacy Protection Services Not Liable for Failure to Disclose Identity of Alleged Spammer — Balsam v. Tucows

[Post by Venkat] Balsam v. Tucows, No. 09-17625 (9th Cir.; Dec. 16, 2010) Prolific spam litigant Dan Balsam sued the registrant of [adultactioncam.com] under California’s spam statute for allegedly sending Balsam thousands of pieces of spam. Balsam obtained a default…

Starbucks Data Breach Plaintiffs Rebuffed by Ninth Circuit — Krottner v. Starbucks

[Post by Venkat] Krottner v. Starbucks, Nos. 09-35823 and 35824 (9th Cir.; Dec. 14, 2010) (Memo affirming dismissal) (Opinion re Standing) Starbucks employees sued Starbucks due to a data breach resulting from the theft of a laptop computer which contained…

Court: Search of Contents of Student Cell Phone Covered by Qualified Immunity — J.W. v. Desoto County School Dist.

[Post by Venkat] J.W. v. Desoto County School Dist., et al., 09-cv-00155-MPM-DAS (N.D. Miss.; Nov. 1, 2010) The Virginia Attorney General set off a small firestorm (e.g., “Should Teachers Be Searching Cell Phones?“) when he issued an opinion to the…

Message Board Operator Fights Discovery Order Requiring Broad Disclosure [Update] — Concerned Citizens for Crystal City v. City of Crystal City

[Post by Venkat] Concerned Citizens for Crystal City v. Crystal City, No. ED94135 (Mo. Ct. App.; Nov. 30, 2010) (amended order) I posted in October about a discovery dispute involving a message board operator who was subject to an overly…

Message Board Operator Fights Discovery Order Requiring Disclosure of Identities and Private Messages — Concerned Citizens for Crystal City v. City of Crystal City

[Post by Venkat] Concerned Citizens for Crystal City, et al. v. City of Crystal City, et al., No. ED 94135 (Mo. Ct. App.; Oct. 26, 2010) In 1991, Pittsburgh Plate and Glass Company shut down a factory in Crystal City…

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