Judges’ Facebook Friendships Insufficient for Recusal .. Again

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] I recently blogged about a trio of cases involving attempts to unseat jury verdicts based on social media relationships between the jurors and witnesses or parties. (“No New Trials When Jurors Haven’t Adequately Disclosed Facebook Friendships.”)…

Crass and Offensive Tweets by Student May not Justify Suspension — Rosario v. Clark County School Dist.

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Rosario v. Clark County School Dist., 13-cV-362 JCM (PAL) (D. Nev. July 3, 2013) Rosario was a student at Desert Oasis High School. He tried out and was originally cut from the basketball team, but apparently…

H1 2013 Quick Links, Part 2 (Privacy, Search Engines)

By Eric Goldman and Jake McGowan Privacy * Transcript of court hearing in California v. Delta Airlines.  Judge’s ruling starts p. 20. The case archive. * Fleischer v. NYP Holdings, Inc., 2013 WL 1105005 (N.Y.A.D. Mar. 19, 2013): “Plaintiff’s third and…

CAN-SPAM Violations For Private WHOIS Information and Putting Disclosures in Remotely Served Images – ZooBuh v. Better Broadcasting

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Zoobuh, Inc. v. Better Broadcasting, LLC, 11cv00516-DN (D. Utah May 31, 2013) Spam litigation has waned. In its place, text message litigation has blossomed. Still, once in awhile an interesting spam decision comes along, though unfortunately…

Court Denies Restraining Order Against Ex-Boyfriend Who Threatened to Post Revenge Porn — EC v. CBT

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] E.C. v. C.B.T., SR., A-1185-12T2 (N.J. Ct. App. May 6, 2013) Plaintiff and defendant lived together between May and August 2011, and after that had a relationship that plaintiff characterized as dysfunctional. Plaintiff sought and obtained…

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…

UK’s New Defamation Law May Accelerate the Death of Anonymous User-Generated Content Internationally (Forbes Cross-Post)

By Eric Goldman Historically, United Kingdom defamation law has been victim-favorable.  In an effort to modernize its defamation law, the UK Parliament recently enacted the Defamation Act 2013 (royal assent was given on April 25).  The act generally makes it harder for…

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…

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…

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…