[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Edme v. Internet Brands, Inc., 12 cv 3306, 2013 U.S. Dist LEXIS 132008 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 16, 2013) In what seems more like a law school exam scenario than real life, a woman who was mistakenly identified…
Crabtree v. Commonwealth of Kentucky, No. 2011-CA-000452-MR (Ky. Ct. App. Aug. 17, 2012) By Eric Goldman [Introductory note: this post has been percolating for quite some time, in part because of its troubling implications. The only definitive lesson–never EVER download…
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani, with comments by Eric] Bland v. Roberts, No. 12-1671 (4th Cir. Sept. 18, 2013). Plaintiffs were a group of employees of the Sheriff’s department, who brought First Amendment claims against the Sheriff. They alleged they were…
By Eric Goldman Spam Arrest LLC v Replacements Ltd., 2013 WL 4675919 (W.D. Wash. Aug. 29, 2013) People hate receiving spam, but most people stopped obsessing about spam a decade ago or more. In the interim, anti-spam filters have improved…
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Mynar v. Douglas County School Dist, 2013 WL 4566354 (9th Cir. Aug 29, 2013) [pdf] This is a school discipline case involving a student’s MySpace posts: • “its pretty simple / i have a sweet gun…
By Eric Goldman Trout Point Lodge, Ltd. v. Handshoe, 2013 WL 4766530 (5th Cir. Sept. 5, 2013) Compared to other countries, the United States has relatively narrow defamation laws. The First Amendment significantly restricts defamation claims, and legislatures have provided…
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with comments by Eric] In the Matter of P.T., 2013 – Ohio- 3881 (Ohio Ct. App. Sept. 9, 2013) [pdf] This is another online threat case, this time involving online comments that constituted the crimes of…
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Fraley v. Facebook, Inc., C 11-1726 RS (N.D. Cal. Aug. 26, 2013) (Digital Media Law Project’s page for the case) (Access a copy of the amended settlement agreement here: [pdf].) Judge Seeborg initially rejected the proposed…
[Post by John Ottaviani] Forcelli v. Gelco Corp., 2013 NY Slip Op 05437 (N.Y. App. Div. July 24, 2013) E-Sign and UETA cases have been few and far between to date. Perhaps it is because the laws still are relatively…
By Eric Goldman Companies and individuals are constantly seeking more effective ways to scrub unwanted online content. One common technique is to get a court declaration that content is unlawful and should be removed, and then send that ruling to…