Nursing School Can’t Expel Students for Posting Photo to Facebook–Byrnes v. Johnson County CC

By Eric Goldman Byrnes v. Johnson County Community College, 2011 WL 166715 (D. Kan. Jan. 19, 2011). The complaint. You’ve probably already heard about this case. Four nursing students posted photos of a patient’s placenta to Facebook, and the school…

Ad Networks Ordered to Drop Allegedly Infringing Site–Elsevier v. eNom

By Eric Goldman Elsevier Ltd v. Whois Privacy Protection Service, Inc., 1:11-cv-10026-RGS (D. Mass. injunction dated Jan. 14, 2011). See the TRO from Jan. 6 and the complaint. On the surface, this seems like a run-of-the-mill copyright enforcement. The plaintiffs…

Ex-Employees Awarded $4,000 for Email Snooping by Employer — Pure Power Boot Camp v. Warrior Fitness Boot Camp

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Pure Power Boot Camp, Inc. v. Warrior Fitness Boot Camp, LLC, 08-civ-4810 (S.D.N.Y.; Dec. 22, 2010) Email snooping and computer fraud statutes (Stored Communications Act; Computer Fraud and Abuse Act) are starting to play a starring…

Court Approves TD Ameritrade Data Breach Settlement — In re TD Ameritrade

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] In re TD Ameritrade Accountholder Litigation, 07-2852 (N.D. Cal.; Dec. 20, 2010) (Order granting preliminary approval of settlement) A class action lawsuit arising out of a TD Ameritrade data breach looks like it’s winding its way…

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…