Internet Law

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

Why a Computer Engineer Sued Over Government’s Spy Program

A 35-year-old computer engineer says he decided to sue over the government’s warrantless surveillance program because of the experiences of his father, a former short-wave radio enthusiast. Tash Hepting is a customer of AT&T, the company he sued with the help of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The action claims the…

Mar 6, 2008 12:02 PM CST

U.S. Watch List Snags a European Travel Agent

An English travel agent who lives in Spain and sells Cuban trips to Europeans has been snagged by the long arm of the U.S. Treasury Department, which put his websites on a terrorist blacklist. That led the U.S. domain registrar that that gave the agent website names such as www.bonjourcuba.com…

Mar 4, 2008 2:22 PM CST

Games Terrorists Play: US Seeks Suspects in Virtual Worlds

In an effort to identify terrorists before they are ready to carry out full-fledged attacks, U.S. authorities apparently are developing a protocol for infiltrating password-protected game-playing sites and pinpointing potential suspects based on their virtual-world behavior. “Using publicly available data, Reynard researchers will carry out observational studies to establish ‘baseline…

Mar 3, 2008 10:14 PM CST

Closely Divided Va. Supeme Court Upholds First Felony Spam Conviction

The Virginia Supreme Court has upheld the country’s first felony spam conviction in a 4-3 ruling, holding that the state’s groundbreaking anti-spam law did not violate the First Amendment. The majority rejected free speech arguments by Jeremy Jaynes, regarded as the world’s eighth most prolific spammer before he was sentenced…

Mar 3, 2008 1:29 PM CST

Judge Backtracks, Returns Wikileaks Whistle-Blower Web Address

Updated: Visibly frustrated by the way that Internet technology has outpaced traditional law, a federal judge today nonetheless acceded to First Amendment arguments and said Wikileaks could have its Web address back. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White, who sits in San Francisco, today reversed his decision earlier this month granting…

Mar 1, 2008 1:35 AM CST