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
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Edme v. Internet Brands, Inc., 12 cv 3306, 2013 U.S. Dist LEXIS 132008 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 16, 2013) In what seems more like a law school exam scenario than real life, a woman who was mistakenly identified…
The First Amendment Protects Facebook “Likes” – Bland v. Roberts
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani, with comments by Eric] Bland v. Roberts, No. 12-1671 (4th Cir. Sept. 18, 2013). Plaintiffs were a group of employees of the Sheriff’s department, who brought First Amendment claims against the Sheriff. They alleged they were…
Another Case Involving School Discipline for a Violent Post on a Social Networking Site — Wynar v. Douglas County School Dist.
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Mynar v. Douglas County School Dist, 2013 WL 4566354 (9th Cir. Aug 29, 2013) [pdf] This is a school discipline case involving a student’s MySpace posts: • “its pretty simple / i have a sweet gun…
High Schooler’s Facebook Post Can Constitute the Crime of Menacing – In re P.T.
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with comments by Eric] In the Matter of P.T., 2013 – Ohio- 3881 (Ohio Ct. App. Sept. 9, 2013) [pdf] This is another online threat case, this time involving online comments that constituted the crimes of…
Facebook Sponsored Stories Settlement Approved – Fraley v. Facebook
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Fraley v. Facebook, Inc., C 11-1726 RS (N.D. Cal. Aug. 26, 2013) (Digital Media Law Project’s page for the case) (Access a copy of the amended settlement agreement here: [pdf].) Judge Seeborg initially rejected the proposed…
Effort to Game Website User Agreement Rules Fails -– Traton News v. Traton Corp.
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Traton News v. Traton Corp., 2013 WL 2500601 (6th Cir. June 11, 2013) Moses was involved in a dispute against Traton Corp., a home builder. Moses sued for trespass and lost. Later, he formed “Traton News…
Sending a “DTF?” Text Message Supports Restraining Order — Finigan v. Weinberg
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Finigan v. Weinberg, 2013 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 5868 (Cal. Ct. App. Aug. 21, 2013) Weinberg was a lieutenant in the Navy. In July 2011, he met with Finigan (a JAG Officer) to obtain legal advice….
Telephone Consumer Protection Act Case Update – Summer 2013 Edition
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] There are a ton of TCPA cases out there. I don’t have the resources to track all of them, but here are a few that came up on my radar screen over the past few months….
Supervisor’s Post-Termination Access of Employee’s Gmail Account May Violate ECPA – Lazette v. Kulmatycki
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] BYOD Meets SCA in E-Mail Privacy Case