Internet Law

N.J. High Court Protects e-Privacy With Landmark Ruling

Even police in New Jersey will need a subpoena to access personal information about users from Internet service providers, New Jersey’s Supreme Court ruled Monday. The court held that the Garden State’s constitution gives residents greater protection against unreasonable searches and seizures than the U.S. Constitution, the Newark Star-Ledger reports.…

Apr 22, 2008 10:12 AM CDT

Oxford U Students Not Smart Enough to Avoid Facebook Fines

They attend one of the world’s most renowned institutions of higher learning. But even after students learned that proctors at Oxford University are logging onto Facebook in search of evidence, many haven’t been able to resist participating in—and posting online photographs of–excessive celebration of their upcoming graduation. Hence, the proctors…

Apr 18, 2008 11:16 PM CDT

Defense Seeks Gag on Duke Plaintiffs’ Website in ‘06 Lacrosse Team Case

An Internet site about a federal lawsuit that 38 Duke University men’s lacrosse team players on the 2006 team filed against the school and the city of Durham, N.C., has become the focus of the litigation, as the defense seeks a gag order requiring it to be taken down. The…

Apr 15, 2008 4:32 PM CDT

Ex-Solicitor Gen’l to Head Commission on Local News Loss

A former solicitor general and a Google executive with an engineering background are jointly at the helm of a new commission formed to explore how best to serve the information needs of citizens seeking to address problems through the democratic process. The premise of the organizations funding the study group…

Apr 14, 2008 10:25 PM CDT

Couple Says Google’s Street View Violates Privacy

A Pittsburgh couple has sued Google alleging their privacy is being invaded by the Internet giant’s wildly popular “Street View” mapping feature. Street View enables Web users to see ground-level views of houses, streetscapes and neighborhoods. But the The Smoking Gun notes that Aaron and Christine Boring accuse Google of…

Apr 4, 2008 7:50 PM CDT

En Banc Court Puts Roommates.com on the Hook in Fair Housing Suit

An en banc 9th Circuit has ruled that a website can be held liable for violating fair housing laws. The ruling by 11 judges of the San Francisco-based court found that Roommates.com can be sued for violating federal fair housing laws because it requires users to provide information that individuals…

Apr 3, 2008 9:38 PM CDT

Free Legal Advice Offered for Accused Music Pirates

Students in San Francisco’s Bay Area have an ally if the Recording Industry Association of America comes knocking and accuses them of pirating music. The college students can turn to the University of San Francisco’s legal clinic—part of the Internet and Intellectual Property Justice Project—that aims to match tech-savvy law…

Apr 1, 2008 9:04 PM CDT

JuicyCampus on ‘Absurd’ AG Probes: We Don’t Have to Enforce Our Rules

An anonymous campus gossip website that is now the subject of at least two state attorney general investigations has responded to claims that it may have violated its own terms and conditions by providing a bulletin board for allegedly malicious, defamatory and potentially harmful posts. The site has violated no…

Mar 27, 2008 7:14 PM CDT

Another State AG Probes JuicyCampus Gossip Website

Updated: The attorney general of Connecticut is following the lead of his New Jersey counterpart and has launched an unusual investigation of an anonymous campus gossip website on a cutting-edge consumer legal theory. And a California lawmaker is suggesting a similar investigation by the AG in his home state. Richard…

Mar 25, 2008 5:53 PM CDT

There Ought to be a Law Against Spoofing, Fla. Legislators Say

Think that phone number you’re seeing on caller ID has to be the real thing? Think again. So-called spoofers can easily substitute a legitimate personal or business number in place of the one they’re really calling from, in order to trick those receiving their calls for a wide variety of…

Mar 21, 2008 8:36 PM CDT

N.J. Prosecutors Investigate JuicyCampus Site

In what may be the first such investigation in the nation, prosecutors in New Jersey reportedly are investigating a controversial no-holds-barred college campus gossip website for possible consumer law violations. The state’s attorney general and Division of Consumer Affairs have subpoenaed the website owner and advertisers, seeking information about how…

Mar 19, 2008 9:26 PM CDT

Idol Production Company Tells ‘Worst’ Site to Cease and Desist

A website that encourages viewers to vote for the worst contestant on American Idol has agreed to remove the Idol logo after receiving three cease-and-desist letters from the show’s production company. A lawyer for the site, Vote for the Worst, says most of the content is protected under fair-use laws,…

Mar 17, 2008 3:00 PM CDT

Patent Blogger and His Company Sued for Defamation

Two lawyers have filed defamation lawsuits against a blogger who called himself Patent Troll Tracker and the company that employed him, Cisco Systems Inc. The blogger, Richard Frenkel, revealed his identity in February. He was still blogging anonymously when he posted the blog entries that prompted the suits, Texas Lawyer…

Mar 17, 2008 2:13 PM CDT

Court Says Craiglist Not Liable for Biased Housing Ads

A federal appeals court has ruled that Craigslist cannot be held liable for discriminatory housing ads posted on its website. The Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the Communications Decency Act of 1996 protects the popular Internet classifieds company, the Wall Street Journal reports (sub. req.). The ruling…

Mar 17, 2008 12:49 PM CDT

The Shame! Law Blogger David Lat Was Facebook Outcast

It’s all been resolved now. But law blogger David Lat described the week he spent as a “online outcast” after his Facebook account as one of the worst of his life. The Above the Law editor recounts the shame and horror of the experience in an article posted on the…

Mar 6, 2008 8:34 PM CST