Court Says No Negligence Claim for Third Party Infringement via Open Wi-Fi Connection – AF Holdings v. Doe
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] AF Holdings, LLC v. Doe, C 12 2049 (PJH) (N.D. Cal.; Sept. 4, 2012) I blogged about a case where a P2P infringement plaintiff argued that a defendant should be held liable for failing to secure…
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…
Another Blow to Banks in ACH Fraud Cases: Funds Transfers Act Preempts Indemnity Agreements — Choice Escrow v. BancorpSouth
[Post by Jake McGowan] Choice Escrow and Land Title, LLC v. BancorpSouth Bank, 10-03531 (W.D. Miss. Aug. 20, 2012) Asharkyu / Shutterstock.com Last month, we blogged about Patco v. Ocean Bank, where the First Circuit held that the bank may…
My Presentations on the Obama Administration’s “Privacy Bill of Rights” and the Proposed Amendments to the EU Data Privacy Directive
By Eric Goldman Many of you probably haven’t heard about the “CONSENT” project in Europe, but you probably will. The CONSENT project is a multi-year, multi-million dollar research project, funded by the European Union, to conduct empirical research on consumer…
Pointing Out Possible Hypocrisy by a Self-Claimed Sextortion Expert Protected by Anti-SLAPP Laws–Backlund v. Stone
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Backlund v. Stone, B235173 (Ca. Ct. App.; Sept. 4, 2012) When is it OK to tweet a threat to expose seminude photographs of a teenage girl? When you’re a law student? When you’re a self-professed expert…
Another School Violated a Student’s First Amendment Rights by Disciplining Her For Facebook Posts — R.S. v. Minnewaska Area School Dist. No. 2149
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] R.S. ex rel. S.S. v. Minnewaska Area School Dist. No. 2149, 2012 WL 3870868 (D.Minn. September 6, 2012) R.S. was a twelve year old student at a Minnewaska Area middle school. She posted a message to…
Buyers of Michael Jackson’s Assets from a Storage Locker Auction Can’t Set Up Paywalled Tribute Website–Branca v. Mann
[Post by Jake McGowan] Branca v. Mann, CV 11-00584 (C.D. Cal. Aug. 10, 2012) When a celebrity goes bankrupt or forgets to pay a bill for his/her physical-space storage locker, opportunists may swoop in and purchase the goods so they…
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…
Ongoing Website Editing Doesn’t Trump Single Publication Rule–Yeager v. Bowlin
By Eric Goldman Yeager v. Bowlin, No. 10-15297 (9th Cir. Sept. 10, 2012) The single publication rule says that the statute of limitations starts with the first publication of the work, and so long as the work doesn’t change, further…
Courts Allows Text Spam Class Action Against Voxer, a Cell Phone Walkie-Talkie App — Hickey v. Voxernet
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Hickey v. Voxernet, C12-373 MJP (W.D. Wash.; Aug 13, 2012) Voxer is an app that turns your cell phone into a walkie-talkie. Plaintiff sued on his own behalf and on behalf of a putative class, alleging…