Blog Defamation Lawsuit Lacks Jurisdiction–TrafficPower.com v. Seobook.com
By Eric Goldman Software Development and Investment of Nevada d/b/a Traffic-Power.com v. Wall d/b/a Seobook.com, No. 2:05-cv-01109-RLH-LRL (D. Nev. motion to dismiss granted Feb. 13, 2006) I generally avoid blogging about Internet jurisdiction cases. They tend to be fact-specific, and…
Congress, Search Engines and China
By Eric Goldman OPEN LETTER TO THE MEMBERS OF THE CONGRESSIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS CAUCUS Dear Caucus members, Like you, I do not like the fact that search engines are helping China effectuate its repressive policies. However, I am confused why…
Adult Webmaster Criminally Prosecuted for User-Uploaded Photos
By Eric Goldman Chris Wilson runs a website called NowThatsFuckedUp.com (first page is office-safe; I didn’t look further!). The website describes itself as “an Amateur community for wife and girlfriend pictures,” and the photos contain graphic depictions of people engaged…
U.T. v. Longhornsingles.com Part 2 – state email filtering
This second post of a two-part posting continues looking at the 5th Circuit’s opinion in this unique case. The first post focused on the CAN-SPAM Act and how the court applied it in this case. This scond post will talk about 1st Amendment complications when a government agency or entity (in this case the University of Texas) adopts a filtering policy or blocks email.
Challenge to CDA’s Obscenity Provision Rejected–Nitke v. Gonzales
Nitke v. Gonzales, No. 01 Civ. 11476 (SDNY July 25, 2005). This case involves a challenge to the 1996 Communications Decency Act’s restriction on disseminating obscenity over the Internet. The basic gist is that there are different standards for evaluating…
Internet Hunting Editorial
On my other blog, I have frequently railed against the regulatory response to Live-shot.com and hunting via the Internet (you can find postings sprinkled throughout this page). I finally organized my thoughts into an editorial that ran today in the…
Problems with Congress’ Latest Anti-Porn Law
Congress’ latest anti-porn attack is codified in 18 U.S.C. 2257. a law which requires anyone producing or distributing pornography to engage in some costly and logistically-difficulty verifications and record-keeping. Kurt Opsahl at EFF explains how this law affects more than…
EFF’s Legal Guide for Bloggers
The EFF has released the wonderful resource “Legal Guide for Bloggers.” It successfully strikes a delicate balance between being comprehensive, accurate and accessible to lay readers. If you’re wondering about the law of blogging, this guide will most likely answer…
Groups Sue to Strike Down Utah’s Anti-Internet Porn Law
King’s English, Inc. v. Shurtleff (D. Utah complaint filed June 9, 2005). As expected, the ACLU is leading a charge against Utah for their latest anti-porn initiative (HB 260). The AP story. Declan’s News.com story. I have already predicted that…
Web Gambling Advertising Suit Against Search Engines Allowed to Proceed
By John Ottaviani Business Wire is reporting that Judge Richard Kramer of the San Francisco County Superior Court has denied a motion to dismiss certain of the allegations in a class action lawsuit filed last summer against Google, Yahoo! and…