Internet Law

In 3rd Music-Download Trial Replay, Minn. Woman Is Hit with $1.5M Verdict; $62,500 Per Song

As the Bill Murray character experienced in the movie Groundhog Day, those who can’t seem to get it right may have to relive the same day again and again until they do. For a Minnesota woman, that has been happening in real life in a music-downloading lawsuit. In the third…

Nov 4, 2010 4:59 PM CDT

Woman Kicked Off Facebook Loses Lawsuit

A Maryland woman who got kicked off Facebook won’t be able to pursue her lawsuit under a ruling by a California federal judge. U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel ruled late last month, finding no First Amendment violation and no breach of contract, according to the blogs Internet Cases and Technology…

Nov 4, 2010 4:30 PM CDT

NLRB Targets Company for Limiting Workers’ Internet and Blog Comments

The National Labor Relations Board has filed a complaint against a company that fired a union worker who made negative comments about her supervisor on Facebook. The NLRB complaint alleges the ambulance company has an overly broad Internet and blogging policy that interferes with its employees’ right to engage in…

Nov 4, 2010 2:21 PM CDT

Gov’t Can Search E-Mail Without Notifying Account-Holder, Federal Judge Rules

When the feds search an individual’s e-mail under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, they don’t have to notify the account-holder, a federal judge has ruled. In an order (PDF) unsealed yesterday, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth of Washington, D.C., says the statute is satisfied so long as the government provides…

Nov 3, 2010 12:02 AM CDT

Google Sues Feds, Alleges Anti-Competitive Bid Specs for E-Mail Contract Proposal

Google Inc. has turned the tables on the feds, alleging that the U.S. Department of the Interior has illegally restricted competition among potential bidders for an e-mail contract by requiring that the system had to be included in the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite The specifications are “unduly restrictive of…

Nov 1, 2010 9:04 PM CDT

If You Have a Blog and Allow Comments, Register for DCMA Protections, Sites Warn

The emergence of Righthaven, a copyright troll that buys the rights to Las Vegas Review-Journal stories and then sues alleged infringers, has prompted a couple of blogs to remind bloggers of how they can protect themselves from suits like Righthaven’s. The Digital Milennium Copyright Act gives websites immunity from civil…

Nov 1, 2010 6:41 PM CDT

Cyberspace Under Siege

Law firms are likely targets for attacks seeking to steal information off computer systems

Nov 1, 2010 9:58 AM CDT

Breaking China

WTO complaint could end the ‘Great Firewall’ Internet ban

Nov 1, 2010 9:10 AM CDT

Online Crimebusters

Private firm collects data cops use for leads

Nov 1, 2010 8:55 AM CDT

Take Down Election-Eve Legal Ethics Censure and Replace It with My Order, Fed’l Judge Tells Agency

A judicial candidate censured this week by a legal ethics agency in Nevada over her criticism of her opponent has won an emergency restraining order from chief federal judge of the local U.S. District Court. It not only requires that the censure be taken down from a public website maintained…

Oct 29, 2010 6:46 PM CDT

Restraining Order Issued Against Student for Twitter Punch-in-the-Face Threat

A judge in Arizona’s Maricopa County has issued a restraining order against an Arizona State University student who threatened in a Twitter post to punch a leader of a group opposing affirmative action. The tweet by 22-year-old Steve Russell summarized his anger at Ward Connerly in less than 140 characters,…

Oct 29, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

Verizon Wireless to Pay Record $25M FCC Fine, Refund $50M in ‘Mystery’ Data Fees

Federal regulators have announced a $75 million pact with Verizon Wireless concerning some $50 million charged to about 15 million customers in “mystery” data fees of $1.99 per megabyte. In addition to refunding customers’ money, Verizon will pay $25 million to the federal government, a record for an FCC enforcement…

Oct 28, 2010 9:55 PM CDT

Federal Judge Shuts Down LimeWire, Says P2P Site Aided ‘Massive’ Infringement

Citing “massive” infringement, a federal judge in New York yesterday ordered LimeWire immediately to shut down its peer-to-peer file-sharing website and gave the company 14 days to report back on the measures it has taken to do so, according to Computerworld and PC World. The ruling came in a permanent…

Oct 27, 2010 11:38 PM CDT

New Weapon for Divorce Lawyers? Android App Facilitates Secret Forwarding of Texts

Updated: Amid reports that evidence-gathering has never been easier than in the Internet age comes word of a new Android application, the Secret SMS Replicator. It could be installed on any Android cellphone to permit secret forwarding of text messages to any other cellphone, the Bits blog of the New…

Oct 27, 2010 11:12 PM CDT

Federal Judge Blocks Gov’t Attempt to Get Amazon Records for Tax Billing

A federal judge in Seattle has nixed an attempt by North Carolina taxing authorities to obtain customer records from Amazon in order to impose sales tax on their purchases. Although N.C. Revenue Department officials say they have no interest in checking to see what customers from the state are buying,…

Oct 26, 2010 9:50 PM CDT