State Bar of Nevada Probes 3 Lawyers Who Helped Righthaven Pursue Copyright Claims

The State Bar of Nevada is investigating the CEO of Righthaven, a company known for its prolific filing of copyright lawsuits against bloggers who allegedly infringed by reposting newspaper content, as well as two lawyers who worked there. CEO Steven Gibson, an attorney, is a subject of the probe along…

Jan 13, 2012 6:30 PM CST

Twitter Ban for Alleged ‘Anonymous’ Hacker Unduly Restricts His Political Participation, Motion Says

Banned by a federal judge from using Twitter after he was charged in a corporate hack attack last year, along with other claimed members of the group known as Anonymous, one of the suspects is fighting his exclusion from the social networking site. Vincent Kershaw argues in a motion filed…

Jan 13, 2012 5:55 PM CST

Judge Refuses Request to Jail Suspended Lawyer for Her Website, LinkedIn Page

A California judge has refused prosecutors’ request to jail a suspended Carlsbad lawyer accused of failing to take down her website and LinkedIn page. Judge Kimberlee Lagotta said on Wednesday there wasn’t enough evidence to show that Patricia Gregory was actively holding herself out as a lawyer, according to UTSanDiego.com.…

Jan 13, 2012 4:45 PM CST

Law Firm that Defends Online Reputations Bought 3,000 Domain Names

The Internet age has produced a new type of business—reputation management companies—and they are helping lawyers and their clients defend their online reputations. Sometimes lawyers hire the companies to fight negative comments posted by people ranging from ex-clients to ex-spouses, the National Law Journal reports. Bruce Anderson, CEO of Cyber…

Jan 10, 2012 12:00 PM CST

Actress Who Sued Website over Age Disclosure Outs Herself to Keep Federal Suit Alive

An actress who sued Amazon’s website IMDb for disclosing her age and her real Asian name has identified herself after a federal judge refused to allow her anonymous complaint. The actress is Huong Hoang, who goes by her stage name of Junie Hoang, according to the Associated Press, Courthouse News…

Jan 9, 2012 1:29 PM CST

Isn’t It Ironic? FCC’s New Website Comes Short on Communication

Jan 1, 2012 10:10 AM CST

Defense Counsel Asks Judge to Order US Attorney to Remove Press Release from Website

Defense counsel for an Alabama pharmacy owner facing criminal charges for allegedly violating Medicaid rules have taken the unusual tack of asking a federal judge in Mobile to order the U.S. Attorney’s office to take down an online press release. In the Internet age, such publicity threatens Chris Vernon’s right…

Dec 22, 2011 9:33 PM CST

Sued Over ‘Like’ Ads, Facebook Calls Users Public Figures to Whom Right of Publicity Doesn’t Apply

A new Facebook feature this year that allows an advertiser to broadcast a user’s “like” of its product to others in that individual’s circle is being challenged in California. A federal judge in San Jose on Friday nixed a motion to dismiss the suit, which contends that such Facebook ads…

Dec 19, 2011 6:54 PM CST

Federal Judge Says Thousands of Tweets and Posts, Many Urging Target’s Death, Weren’t Criminal

Saying that a religious leader targeted by some 8,000 tweets and blog posts is a public figure, a federal judge in Maryland yesterday dismissed criminal charges against a former friend charged in the cyberstalking case. The messages, many of which urged the death of Alyce Zeoli, a Maryland-based Buddhist leader,…

Dec 16, 2011 7:23 PM CST

Cops Use Social Media, Launch Website in Effort to Find Potomac River Rapist

The FBI is joining with local police in Maryland in an Internet-inspired effort to get the public’s help in tracking down a serial rapist. Authorities are launching a website, employing digital billboards and using social media in an effort to find the man known as the Potomac River rapist, the…

Dec 16, 2011 2:59 PM CST

Appeals Court Upholds Blog Take-Down Order in Harassment Case

A Minnesota appeals court has upheld a judge’s order requiring a woman’s onetime boyfriend to remove a blog questioning her relationships and mental health. The Minnesota Court of Appeals found no constitutional problem with the “harassment restraining order,” which also restricted the boyfriend’s future electronic communications. Forbes’ The Not-So Private…

Dec 15, 2011 7:19 PM CST

Battery Defendant Seeks New Trial over Facebook Friendships of Judge’s Kids

Updated: A Chicago-area woman convicted of battering a child in a bench trial claims the judge should have recused himself because of the Facebook connections of his children. The defendant, Kelly Klein of Wilmington, Ill., claims the judge’s children are Facebook friends with members of the family of the alleged…

Dec 14, 2011 2:05 PM CST

DC Officials Admit Using Personal Email Accounts for Work Purposes

Two top officials in the District of Columbia’s financial office have admitted using personal email accounts to conduct official business. Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi testified in a deposition last month that he “occasionally” uses his personal email account for office purposes, the Washington Post reports. Gandhi’s chief of…

Dec 13, 2011 10:28 PM CST

‘Plank’ Prank Posted Online Gets Man, 19, Convicted of Disorderly Conduct

Alexander Hart apparently thought it would be amusing to be photographed, lying straight as a board, in various locations such as the top of an automatic teller machine and a Walmart merchandise display. But a judge in Wisconsin was not amused, convicting the 19-year-old of disorderly conduct for “planking” and…

Dec 9, 2011 8:48 PM CST

School Dist. Faces New Suit re Alleged Laptop Webcam Spying, By Sister of Teen Who Got $175K

A suburban Philadelphia school district reacted with outrage today, after learning that it had been sued again, by the sister of a teen student to whom it had made a $175,000 settlement, concerning alleged illegal webcam monitoring in their home on a Harriton High School-supplied laptop. Paige Robbins, 18, says…

Dec 9, 2011 3:33 PM CST