Pennsylvania Appeals Courts Says no to Circumstantial Authentication of Text Messages — State v. Koch
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] State v. Koch, 2011 PA Super 201 (Sept. 16, 2011) Courts continue to struggle with the authentication of electronic communications. Although several courts have opined that the rules of authentication are not upended by new technologies…
Consumer Reviews at “Local” Review Sites Don’t Support Jurisdiction–Wilkerson v. RSL
By Eric Goldman Wilkerson v. RSL Funding, LLC, 2011 WL 3516147 (Tex. App. Ct. Aug. 11, 2011) It doesn’t bring me a lot of joy to blog another Internet jurisdiction case, but the dispute’s substantive issues are important enough to…
Connecticut Court of Appeals Tackles Authentication of Facebook Messages — State v. Eleck
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] State v. Eleck, (AC 31581 (Conn. Ct. App. Aug 9, 2011) There have been several recent cases that deal with the authentication of social networking evidence. The Connecticut Court of Appeals recently tackled the issue of…
P2P Swarm Defendants Can’t Be Joined in the Same Lawsuit — Pac. Century Int’l Ltd. v. Does
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Pacific Century International Ltd. v. Does, C-11-02533 (DMR) (N.D. Cal. July 8, 2011) There have been a slew of recent procedural rulings in mass copyright cases, with plaintiffs mostly getting smacked down by courts. Plaintiffs have…
Court Orders Plaintiff to Turn Over Facebook and MySpace Passwords in Discovery Dispute — Zimmerman v. Weis Markets, Inc.
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Zimmerman v. Weis Markets, Inc., CV-09-1535 (Pa. Ct. Common Pleas; May 19, 2011) Courts continue to struggle with the discoverability of social network evidence in civil cases and the logisictal problems posed by these discovery disputes….
San Diego County Bar Tackles Lawyer Friend Requests and the Ex Parte Rule
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] The San Diego County Bar Association recently tackled the issue of whether a lawyer’s friend request to an employee of a party violates the rule barring ex-parte communications by a lawyer with a party whom the…
Court Conducts in camera Review of Plaintiff’s Facebook Page to Resolve Discovery Dispute — Offenback v. Bowman
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Offenback v. Bowman, 10-CV-1789 (M.D. Pa.; June 22, 2011) Background: Discovery disputes over Facebook accounts and whether they are discoverable in civil cases are piling up. Courts and litigants continue to grapple with the central problem…
Massachusetts Supreme Court Finds Email Sufficiently Authenticated Based on Surrounding Evidence — Commonwealth v. Purdy
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Commonwealth v. Purdy, 2011 WL 1421367 (Mass.; Apr. 15, 2011) Defendant was prosecuted and convicted for maintaining a house of prostitution and deriving support from the earnings of a prostitute. The trial judge admitted various emails…
Plaintiff Can’t be Forced to Accept Defense Counsel’s Facebook Friend Request in Personal Injury Case — Piccolo v. Paterson
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Piccolo v. Paterson, No. 2009-04979 (Pa. Ct of Common Pleas; May 5, 2011) [.pdf] In addition to cases dealing with whether Facebook posts are discoverable in civil cases, courts and litigants continue to grapple with the…
Maryland Supreme Court Rejects “Circumstantial Authentication” Standard for MySpace Evidence — Griffin v. Maryland
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Griffin v. Maryland, No. 74 (Maryland; Apr. 28, 2011) I blogged last year about a case in Maryland where the court allowed prosecutors to authenticate a witness’s MySpace page merely by accessing it from the internet,…