Nov.-Dec. 2010 Quick Links, Part 5
By Eric Goldman Taxes * Amazon.com, LLC v New York State Dept. of Taxation & Fin., 2010 NY Slip Op 07823 (N.Y. App. Div. Nov. 4, 2010). A NY appellate court rejected Overstock’s/Amazon’s facial challenges to “affiliates tax” but revived…
Nov.-Dec. 2010 Quick Links, Part 2
By Eric Goldman Wikileaks Wikileaks has been on my mind for the past 2 months, but the stories have moved faster than I can. From my perspective, Wikileaks is principally a story about The Empire Strikes Back (It is a…
Deep Packet Inspection (NebuAd) Litigation: Court Dismisses ECPA Claim but CFAA Claim Continues
[Post by Venkat with comments by Eric] Mortensen v. Bresnan Comm., CV 10-13-BLG-RFC (D. Mont. Dec. 13, 2010) A district court in Montana hearing one of the many NebuAd “deep packet inspection” lawsuits partially granted a defendant’s motion to dismiss….
Domain Name Privacy Protection Services Not Liable for Failure to Disclose Identity of Alleged Spammer — Balsam v. Tucows
[Post by Venkat] Balsam v. Tucows, No. 09-17625 (9th Cir.; Dec. 16, 2010) Prolific spam litigant Dan Balsam sued the registrant of [adultactioncam.com] under California’s spam statute for allegedly sending Balsam thousands of pieces of spam. Balsam obtained a default…
Starbucks Data Breach Plaintiffs Rebuffed by Ninth Circuit — Krottner v. Starbucks
[Post by Venkat] Krottner v. Starbucks, Nos. 09-35823 and 35824 (9th Cir.; Dec. 14, 2010) (Memo affirming dismissal) (Opinion re Standing) Starbucks employees sued Starbucks due to a data breach resulting from the theft of a laptop computer which contained…
Court: Search of Contents of Student Cell Phone Covered by Qualified Immunity — J.W. v. Desoto County School Dist.
[Post by Venkat] J.W. v. Desoto County School Dist., et al., 09-cv-00155-MPM-DAS (N.D. Miss.; Nov. 1, 2010) The Virginia Attorney General set off a small firestorm (e.g., “Should Teachers Be Searching Cell Phones?“) when he issued an opinion to the…
Message Board Operator Fights Discovery Order Requiring Broad Disclosure [Update] — Concerned Citizens for Crystal City v. City of Crystal City
[Post by Venkat] Concerned Citizens for Crystal City v. Crystal City, No. ED94135 (Mo. Ct. App.; Nov. 30, 2010) (amended order) I posted in October about a discovery dispute involving a message board operator who was subject to an overly…
Message Board Operator Fights Discovery Order Requiring Disclosure of Identities and Private Messages — Concerned Citizens for Crystal City v. City of Crystal City
[Post by Venkat] Concerned Citizens for Crystal City, et al. v. City of Crystal City, et al., No. ED 94135 (Mo. Ct. App.; Oct. 26, 2010) In 1991, Pittsburgh Plate and Glass Company shut down a factory in Crystal City…
My RapLeaf Profile is Amusingly Mistaken. This is What the Fuss is All About?
By Eric Goldman The latest in the Wall Street Journal’s “scare journalism” series of privacy articles is a hatchet job on RapLeaf. I don’t know much about RapLeaf, but at conferences, privacy advocates frequently invoke RapLeaf as an omnipotent, omniscient…
Court Orders Disclosure of Facebook and MySpace Passwords in Personal Injury Case — McMillen v. Hummingbird Speedway
[Post by Venkat] McMillen v. Hummingbird Speedway, Inc., et al., Case No. 113-2010 CD (Pa. Ct. of Common Pleas) (Sept. 9, 2010) There have been several recent cases dealing with discovery of social networking evidence in a civil dispute. A…