Vague Takedown Notice Targeting Facebook Page Results in Possible Liability–CrossFit v. Alvies
Alvies ran a blog & community centered around CrossFit, a fitness program. CrossFit complainted about the name of the blog (crossfitmamas.blogspot.com). In addition to make demands to Alvies, a CrossFit paralegal talked to at least one reader, and decried Avlies’…
H2 2013 Quick Links, Part 4 (Social Media, Advertising, E-Commerce)
Facebook * MarketingLand’s coverage of Facebook’s increasingly complicated algorithm for ranking news feed stories. * People v. DeJesus, 2013 WL 6327657 (Cal. App. Ct. Dec. 4, 2013): As for defendant’s claim about an Internet posting to a group as potentially violating the trial court’s…
H2 2013 Quick Links, Part 3 (Content Regulation)
Section 230 * The Good Wife on CBS had an episode, “Whack a Mole,” that addressed Section 230. It got Section 230 right on defamation damages but wrong on injunctions. * Preliminary injunction in Backpage v. Hoffman, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 119811 (D.N.J. Aug. 20, 2013)….
Sony PlayStation Data Breach Lawsuit Whittled Down but Moves Forward
We blogged previously about the claims resulting from the breach of the PlayStation networks. The claims did not receive a warm reception. (“Sony Network Data Breach Class Action Suffers Setback — In re Sony Gaming Networks”.) Plaintiffs were given a…
H2 2013 Quick Links, Part 2 (Privacy, Search Engines)
NSA * WaPo: The NSA seems to really enjoy exploiting high profile tech companies. * The Guardian: the Snowden incident portends the death of the Internet. * The Switch: Yes, there actually is a huge difference between government and corporate surveillance. * American Panopticon: How a…
H2 2013 Quick Links, Part 1 (IP)
Copyright * Appellate briefs in the latest Second Circuit trip for YouTube v. Viacom. Prior blog post. * Fox Broadcasting Company, Inc. v. Dish Network L.L.C., 723 F.3d 1067 (9th Cir. 2013). Another case where remote DVR users made the copies, not…
The Sochi Olympics and European Answers to Cross-Border Copyright Questions (Guest Blog Post)
[by guest blogger Marketa Trimble] With the Sochi Winter Olympic Games approaching, it is time again to follow again one of the unofficial Olympic “sports” – the evasion of geolocation. Internet users around the globe will be bypassing websites’ geoblocking…
Copyright Suit Over Second Life Terraforming Survives Summary Judgment, Then Settles — FireSabre v. Linden
What happens when a virtual world designer sues for “unauthorized” use of a virtual “island?” In late September, a New York district court denied summary judgment and cleared the way for a full trial on a virtual world copyright infringement…
Two Student Threat Cases Illustrate Gross Disparity in Treatment of Student Speech
Two decisions from different jurisdictions illustrate the drastically divergent approaches the law takes in dealing with alleged threats from students on social media. In one case, a middle school student (A.N.) was tweeting with her friend Smith (who lost her…
9th Circuit Issues a Blogger-Friendly First Amendment Opinion–Obsidian Finance v. Cox
This case involves defamation claims brought by Kevin Padrick of Obisidian Finance Group against Crystal Cox. Obsidian (Padrick) was the Chapter 11 Trustee for Summit Accomodators, and Cox wrote a series of posts accusing Padrick and Obsidian of fraud, corruption,…