Appeals Court Affirms Harassment Order Based on Vague Testimony of Indirect Contacts

This is a civil harassment case. Kwan and Murcia both worked at CVS but at different stores (both as managers). Kwan filed a request for a harassment restraining order against Murcia, alleging that he was cyber harassing her and texted…

Section 230 Precludes Injunctive Relief Against Message Boards--Medytox v. InvestorsHub

We’re celebrating #ThrowbackThursday today at the Technology & Marketing Law Blog! InvestorsHub runs message boards on financial topics. A user, Hawley, posted several messages on InvestorsHub about Medytox and its principals. Medytox and the principals sued Hawley for defamation and…

When Does Social Media Chatter Become Criminal? Previewing The Supreme Court's 'Elonis' Case (Forbes Cross-Post)

Social media combines the power of printed words with the immediacy of oral conversations. While social media frequently enriches our lives, it also enables incivil behavior such as the threats of violence against others. Should we interpret a social media…

Creditors Can't Seize Country Code Top Level Domains

This is a ruling addressing plaintiffs’ ability to levy against a country code top level domain (TLD). Plaintiffs obtained judgments against the Islamic Republic of Iran, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and Syrian Arab Republic. They sought to attach defendants’…

Lawsuit Over User-Posted Celebrity Photos Survives Dismissal--BWP v. Hollywood Fan Sites

The plaintiffs own copyrights in celebrity photos. The defendants run the Hollywood.com “fan site network” with 1,500+ websites dedicated to celebrities, TV shows, etc. The complaint alleges that the entire fan site network is predicated on republishing stolen photos, and…

Perfect 10 Loses Copyright Suit Against USENET Service Provider--Perfect 10 v. Giganews

Giganews acts as a USENET service provider. Perfect 10 is the litigious pornographer that has helped define Internet copyright law for the last 15 years. It sued Giganews because Perfect 10’s copyrighted images are distributed on USENET. After over three…

PissedConsumer Defeats Preliminary Injunction--Roca v. Consumer Opinion Corp.

Roca makes and sells dietary supplements. They’ve made a series of legally dubious choices, but I think their problems start with their desire to suppress negative consumer reviews. The court describes that: [Roca’s] Purchase Agreement requires customers to agree that,…

Fifth Annual Internet Law Work-in-Progress Conference: Initial Participant List

On March 7, 2015, Santa Clara University will be hosting the Fifth Annual Internet Law Work-in-Progress conference. Over 50 Internet Law scholars from around the globe have signed up to come. If you’d still like to join us, please contact…

LinkedIn Can't Shake Publicity Rights Claims Based on Reminder Emails

This is a lawsuit against LinkedIn alleging that LinkedIn wrongly sent out repeated invites to users’ contacts. In an initial ruling, Judge Koh denied LinkedIn’s request to dismiss on the grounds of standing but dismissed the federal claims for alleged violations of…

Bleg: Help Us Prepare For the Blog's 10 Year Blogiversary

This blog launched on February 8, 2005, meaning that our 10th anniversary is just a couple of months away. Where did the time go??? With our big milestone looming, we’re cooking up some special features to help celebrate in style. It…