Don’t Roll The Dice On Defamation Suits Against Gripe Sites, Especially In California–Ocean’s Eleven v. Anders
This case involves the now defunct website www.oceans11.info. There’s one archival version in Archive.org from 2012, though I found it confusing. The website was a gripe site created by Tim Anders (a/k/a “Dr. Hope“), a professional poker player. Anders protested…
Dead Sea Scrolls Impersonation Case Convictions Partially Affirmed
I previously blogged about the Dead Sea Scrolls impersonation and harassment case, involving some rather elaborate schemes implemented by the son of Dead Sea Scrolls scholar Norman Golb. (“Conviction Upheld for Impersonating Dead Sea Scrolls Scholars by Sending Out Emails…
Linking to Defamatory Content Protected by Section 230—Vazquez v. Buhl
Teri Buhl posted allegedly defamatory content about Vazquez to the Internet. A CNBC editor linked to that post in an article entitled “The Sex and Money Scandal Rocking Hedge Fund Land.” The CNBC article characterized Buhl as a “veteran financial…
Yelp Wins Another Section 230 Case–Kimzey v. Yelp
This is such an easy case, it could have only been brought pro se. The suit involves two Yelp reviews by a user named “Sarah K.” that were allegedly defamatory and otherwise tortious. The court’s substantive discussion (some citations omitted):…
Conviction for Cyberstalking & Revenge Porn Survives First Amendment Challenge
There’s no way to look at what Shawn Sayer did and think that he should not suffer some criminal consequences. After breaking up with his girlfriend of a couple of years (Doe), he engaged in a vicious and ongoing campaign…
California Moving To Protect Consumer Reviews–AB 2365 (Forbes Cross-Post)
Consumer reviews play a critical role in our marketplace today, and existing consumers can have significant influence over prospective consumers. Many businesses have accepted this new competitive reality, but not all. For example, some businesses ask their customers to contractually…
Another Attempt to Scrub Unflattering Posts Fails
This is another social media defamation case. (Last week’s edition: Another Questionable IP Lawsuit Over a Derogatory Twitter Account.) Plaintiffs were husband and wife. One of the plaintiffs (Hassan Miah) was involved in a business dispute involving a business he founded…
Keyword Advertising Doesn’t Create General Jurisdiction–Rocke v. Pebble Beach
I know, Internet jurisdiction cases are typically blah, but this was more interesting than most. Still, I’ll keep this post brief. The Rockes visited the well-known Pebble Beach Resorts in California. Mrs. Rocke suffered a slip-and-fall there but sued the…
Another Questionable IP Lawsuit Over a Derogatory Twitter Account
Uli Behringer is the the CEO of “Music Group,” a company I had not heard of prior to this lawsuit. Apparently ticked off at the antics of “@NotUliBehringer” and “@fakeuli,” Behringer and his company tried to get Twitter to take…
Siblings Use Publicity Rights To Try To Block Sister From Blogging About Mom–In re Reynolds
For lawyers, family feuds are gold. There’s nothing quite as vituperative as family members squabbling in court. For the lawyers, familial acrimony translates into irrational overspending on legal fees. Ca-ching! Today’s family feud involves a mom, Lois Reynolds, and her…