H2 2013 Quick Links, Part 3 (Content Regulation)
…Posting to Ripoff Report is mostly opinion, but two statements survived a motion to dismiss the defamation and related claims. * Ball v. Saurman, 2013 WL 5209817 (Cal. App. Ct….
AAUP Says Kansas Regents’ New Faculty Social Media Use Policy Violates Academic Freedom (Guest Blog Post)
…interests of the University,’ or for ‘impairing discipline by superiors [administrators] or harmony among co-workers.’ The AAUP reports that one brave faculty member, Kansas State University professor Phil Nel, wrote…
Facebook Complaints About Boss’s Creepy Hands Can’t Salvage Retaliation/Harassment Claims
…exercised reasonable care, and DeBord did not take advantage of the reporting tools and processes the employer made available. Specifically, the employer offered an “anonymous reporting system” for harassment claims….
Facebook Rant Against ‘Arial’ Font Helps Reverse Sex Offender Determination
…have a police report written entirely in Spanish!!!”; and p. he “hates the word ‘lascivious.’ These remarks are damning. The court harshly characterizes them as “unquestionably inappropriate, unprofessional, troubling, and…
“Wiggin Out” Over a Wig Purchase Dispute Leads to Online Defamation – Sanders v. Walsh
…Wals) denies that she ever made that representation. Sanders prevailed in small claims court and subsequently made a post to Ripoffreport.com. In a lengthy “rebuttal” post, Walsh and Wiggin Out…
California’s New ‘Online Eraser’ Law Should Be Erased (Forbes Cross-Post)
…user might self-report his/her age to customer service representatives, or one user might reveal that another user is under-age. What then? Apparently, the legal obligation will spring into effect in…
Wiretap Claims Against Gmail Scanning Survive Motion to Dismiss — In re: Google Inc. Gmail Litigation
…this exception. A separate exception limited “random monitoring” to mechanical or quality control checks. Similarly, a Senate report regarding ECPA noted that a provider may have to monitor a stream…
Creating Parody Social Media Accounts Doesn’t Violate Computer Fraud & Abuse Act – Matot v. CH
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Matot v. CH, et al, 13-cv-153-TC (D.Or.) (Report and Recommendation, Aug. 19, 2013) (Order Dismissing Lawsuit, Sept. 26, 2013) This is a strange lawsuit brought by…
Court Upholds Doocing For Snarky Facebook Post — Rodriquez v. Wal-Mart
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Rodriquez v. Wal-Mart, 2013 U.S. App. 19345 (5th Cir. Sept. 19, 2013)…
Gossip Site That Uses Misidentified Photo May Be Liable for Publicity Rights Violation — Edme v. Internet Brands
…clearly newsworthy. Media Takeout is not so lucky. It also tried to argue the newsworthiness exception, but the court says that Media Takeout did not exactly report on an item…