Internet Law

Microsoft Lawyer Devises Trademark Strategy to Fight Botnets, Joins US Marshals in Raid

A former prosecutor who works in the digital crimes unit for Microsoft was among the corporate employees who joined with U.S. marshals on Friday in raids targeting botnets. The lawyer, Richard Boscovich, devised a legal strategy that argues the people behind botnets, so-called “zombie armies” of computers, are violating Microsoft…

Mar 26, 2012 2:21 PM CDT

Twitter Posts Put Some Individuals Arrested During Occupy Wall Street Protest on the Defensive

Arrested last October on the Brooklyn Bridge along with hundreds of other Occupy Wall Street protesters, Jeff Rae expected to fight the charges against him. But now the 31-year-old Washington, D.C., resident decided to take a plea after prosecutors subpoenaed his Twitter account, the Wall Street Journal reported. Although the…

Mar 23, 2012 4:48 PM CDT

Veteran Convicted of Threatening Judge on YouTube Now in Trouble over Tweets

An Iraq war veteran convicted last year in Tennessee for threatening a judge in a YouTube video is back in trouble over his Twitter comments. Franklin Delano “Dale” Jeffries II, a former Army sergeant, was arrested this week based on accusations that he posted “suicidal/homicidal” tweets, the Knoxville News Sentinel…

Mar 23, 2012 11:53 AM CDT

Stanford Seeks New Trial Based Partly on Journalists’ Courtroom Tweets

Lawyers for convicted Texas financier R. Allen Stanford are seeking a new trial partly because journalists were allowed to tweet news of off-the-record courtroom conferences. In court documents, lawyer Ali Fazel wrote that the tweets resulted in “instantaneous dissemination of information,” the the Wall Street Journal Law Blog reports. “This…

Mar 22, 2012 11:34 AM CDT

Fake Law Firm Seeks Cash from Those Who May Have Violated Copyright Law by Using Megaupload

After a raid by the feds that shut down Megaupload, enterprising criminals are reportedly trying to make a profit from those who may have used the file-sharing site to obtain copyrighted material without permission. A nonexistent German law firm, Dr. Kroner & Kollegan, has been contacting former users to offer…

Mar 21, 2012 10:38 PM CDT

States Mull Possible Law to Ban Public Employers from Asking Applicants for Facebook Password

In at least two states, Illinois and Maryland, lawmakers are pondering possible legislation to prohibit public employers from asking job applicants to turn over their passwords to their private Facebook accounts. While applicants, of course, can always say no to such requests, it’s difficult to do so when a job…

Mar 20, 2012 7:08 PM CDT

What Happens to Your Facebook Page After Death? Nebraska Bill Gives Say-So to Estate Representative

A bill pending in Nebraska would make the state the second to give estate representatives the power to handle social media accounts after the death of state residents. The bill would treat Facebook, Twitter and email accounts as digital assets that would be managed by appointed representatives, according to the…

Mar 19, 2012 11:00 AM CDT

Federal Prosecutor Resigns After He Is Kicked Off Some Cases for Anonymous Online Comments

Updated: A federal prosecutor in New Orleans has resigned after acknowledging he made anonymous online comments about the owner of a landfill that is the subject of a federal probe. The prosecutor, Sal Perricone, admitted making hundreds of posts at NOLA.com using the name Henry L. Mencken1951, according to the…

Mar 16, 2012 12:16 PM CDT

Fed’l Class Action Says Social Network, Game Apps Take Smartphone Contact Info Without User OK

Apps for popular social networking sites and games including Facebook, Twitter, Yelp and possibly Angry Birds are accessing confidential personal address book data without user permission, contends a federal suit filed in Austin, Texas, this week. The suit, which was filed in federal district court in Travis County, seeks an…

Mar 15, 2012 7:01 PM CDT

Truck Driver Who Won Small Claims Victory re Unlimited Phone Plan Spurns AT&T Offer to Settle Case

Victorious in a small claims case against telecommunications giant AT&T, which had slowed down his use of his “unlimited” phone plan, a California truck driver has spurned a settlement effort by the company. After receiving a letter dated Friday from a law firm representing AT&T that urges him to sit…

Mar 13, 2012 10:17 PM CDT

Jury Foreman Is Fined $500 for Online Sentencing Research; Judge Calls for Revised Model Instruction

Although a New Jersey judge reminded jurors not only daily but before each break not to do Internet research concerning the case, one juror apparently failed to get the message. After determining, as he thought, through online research that the defendant in a Hackensack drug case would get a minimum…

Mar 13, 2012 9:44 PM CDT

Jurors Award Lawyer and Husband Nearly 10 Times the Requested Amount in Internet Defamation Case

Georgia jurors in an Internet defamation case last month ignored a request to award $48,000 each to a lawyer and her husband. Instead, they awarded a total of $900,000 in damages. The plaintiffs, lawyer Jana Tabor and construction company owner John Tabor, had alleged they were defamed through media and…

Mar 13, 2012 1:51 PM CDT

5 Claimed ‘Anonymous’ Affiliates Face US Hacking Case After Leader Took Plea in Secret Court Hearing

In what authorities are calling the first case brought in the United States against defendants they say are affiliated with the hacktivist groups known as Anonymous and Lulz Security, five individuals have been charged with the help of a notorious computer vandal who reportedly served as an FBI informant. Known…

Mar 6, 2012 11:47 PM CST

Want to Actually Read Online Privacy Policies? Prepare to Give Up 40 Minutes a Day

Two Carnegie Mellon researchers have estimated that it would take 40 minutes a day to read the privacy policies you encounter on websites each year. The Atlantic explains how researchers Lorrie Faith Cranor and Aleecia McDonald came up with the figure in the 2008 study (PDF). They looked at the…

Mar 6, 2012 7:46 PM CST

Military Medals Case Could Affect False Statement Law That Ensnared a Tweeting Activist

At least 17 states have laws that forbid false campaign speech, and one of them ensnared 46-year-old mechanical engineer Mark Miller. Miller had urged a “no” vote on a Cincinnati streetcar project on Twitter, claiming the “streetcar boondoggle” had affected the fire department budget, the New York Times reports. The…

Mar 6, 2012 5:16 PM CST