Judge’s Facebook Friendship With Victim’s Parent Does not Taint Proceeding — Youkers v. Texas
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Youkers v . Texas, No. 05-11-01407-CR (Tx. Ct. App. May 15, 2013) [pdf] Youkers was convicted for tampering with evidence after he was indicted for assaulting his girlfriend who was pregnant with his child. He entered…
Yahoo’s User Agreement Fails in Battle Over Dead User’s Email Account–Ajemian v. Yahoo
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Ajemian v. Yahoo!, 12-P-178 (Mass. Ct. App. May 7, 2013) This is a very interesting dispute that raises the question of ownership over digital assets after a person’s death. Plaintiffs, John Ajemian’s (the decedent’s) executors and…
Crazy SOPA-Like Attempt to Hold International Banks Liable for Pharmacy Spam Fails on Jurisdiction Grounds–Unspam v. Chernuk
[By Venkat Balasubramani with comments from Eric Goldman] Unspam Technologies, Inc. v. Chernuk, 2013 WL 1849080 (4th Cir. May 4, 2013) We’ve mentioned “Project Honeypot,” the efforts of a company (founded by Matthew Prince) to track down and prosecute spammers….
Recap of Washington State’s Employer Social Media Password Bill
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] SB 5211 (passed by Senate April 27, 2013) Both chambers of the Washington legislature passed Substitute Senate Bill 5211, and it now awaits the Governor’s signature. No Washington legislators voted against it. Here are the key…
Typosquatting Claims Against Security Researcher Are Legally Complicated – Gioconda v. Kenzie
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Gioconda Law Group v. Kenzie, 2012 US Dist LEXIS 187801 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 23, 2013) Kenzie is a security researcher who has registered numerous domain names that are typographic errors of well-known trademarks (e.g., rnastercard, rncdonalds, nevvscorp,…
Nosal Convicted of Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Crime Despite His Ninth Circuit Win – US v. Nosal
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani, with a comment from Eric] US v. Nosal, CR 08-0237 EMC (N.D. Cal. Mar. 12, 2013) (.pdf, denying motion to dismiss) US v. Nosal, a case that spawned two Ninth Circuit opinions and that’s sure to…
Misguided Catfishing Scheme Leads to Discipline of College Students — Zimmerman v. Ball State
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with a comment from Eric] Zimmerman v. Ball State Univ., et al., 12-cv-01475-JMS-DML (S.D. Ind. Apr. 15, 2013). (The complaint.) Zimmerman and Sumwalt were students at Ball State University, a public university in Indiana. They apparently…
No Claim Based on Perez Hilton’s Publication of Unsolicited but Inflammatory Reader Email – Wargo v. Lavandeira
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Wargo v. Lavandeira, JAMS Arbitration No. 1220041183 (Mar. 24, 2013) Lavandeira runs the popular Perez Hilton website, which has been involved in its fair share of legal disputes. In response to an item (presumably about Angelina…
Privacy on Trial: Reflections on Hoang v. IMDb
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Hoang v. IMDb.com, C11-1709MJP (W.D. Wash. Mar. 18, 2013) [Added: the jury ruled against Hoang and in favor of IMDb.] At Eriq Gardner’s suggestion, I attended the trial in Hoang v. IMDb and reported on the…
Accessing Ex-girlfriend’s MySpace Account and Posting Offensive Content Results in Conviction
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] State v Kucharski, 2013 Il App (2d) 120270 (Mar. 29, 2013): Steven and the victim were in a relationship. Because the victim was “kind of computer illiterate,” Steven set up a MySpace account for her. After…