Lori Drew Criminal Case Ends With a Whimper

By Eric Goldman United States v. Drew, 2009 WL 2872855 (C.D. Cal. Aug. 28, 2009) Almost 2 months ago, the judge presiding over the Lori Drew trial orally announced that he intended to rule in favor of Drew, but it…

Private High School Not Liable for Cyberbullying–DC v. Harvard-Westlake

By Eric Goldman D.C. v. Harvard-Westlake School, 2009 WL 2500343 (Cal. App. Ct. Aug. 14, 2009) Harvard-Westlake is a highly-regarded private school in the Los Angeles basin with an impressive alumni roster and a lot of very affluent parents. I’ve…

Nursing Student’s Blog Post Doesn’t Support Expulsion–Yoder v. University of Louisville

By Eric Goldman Yoder v. University of Louisville, 2009 WL 2406235 (W.D. Ky. Aug. 3, 2009). Yoder’s initial complaint. Nina Yoder was a University of Louisville nursing student. She posted a blog post to MySpace entitled “How I Witnessed the…

Griping Blogger Gets Fair Use and Anti-SLAPP Win–Sedgwick v. Delsman

By Eric Goldman Sedgwick Claims Management Services, Inc. v. Delsman, 2009 WL 2157573 (N.D. Cal. July 17, 2009). The Justia page. Delsman had a big issue with Sedgwick. The details of his gripes aren’t all that important. To make his…

47 USC 230(c)(2) Talk Slides Draft–COMMENTS REQUESTED

By Eric Goldman Later this week I’m giving a brand new talk on 47 USC 230(c)(2), the overlooked sibling of 47 USC 230(c)(1). With the help of a research assistant, we tried to identify and review every case referencing 47…

June 2009 Quick Links, Part 2

By Eric Goldman State Regulation of the Internet * iAWFUL, the Internet Advocates Watchlist for Ugly Laws * Texas HB 2003. Part of the anti-cyber-harassment mania. Very broad statute with lots of room for prosecutorial mischief. * BNA (BNA subscription…

May 2009 Quick Links Part 2

By Eric Goldman Blogs and Boards * WSJ: Bloggers, Beware: What You Write Can Get You Sued * j2 Global Communications v. Zilker Ventures, CV 08-07470 SJO (AJWx) (C.D. Cal. April 22, 2009). A consumer review website can putatively qualify…

April 2009 Quick Links

By Eric Goldman [Just a reminder that I am posting some “quick links” exclusively to my Twitter account, so if you want to keep up with everything, follow me at Twitter or subscribe to the RSS feed.] Marketing/Spam * Zango…

Robert Steinbuch Loses Another Round–Steinbuch v. Hachette

By Eric Goldman Steinbuch v. Hachette Book Group, 2009 WL 963588 (E.D. Ark. April 8, 2009). The Justia page. Law professor Robert Steinbuch, a male “protagonist” from the notorious and risque Washingtonienne blog by Jessica Cutler, suffered another courtroom loss….

Blogspot Sued for Dead Blogger’s Content–Davis v. Google

By Eric Goldman Davis v. Google, 09 CH 15753 (Cook County Ct. complaint filed April 9, 2009) Venkat sent a very interesting lawsuit this morning that raises some complex policy issues. The complaint alleges that Sean Healy created a blog…