Internet Law

Trump wins defamation case; judge says his ‘intemperate tweets’ are opinion

A New York judge has tossed a suit that claimed Donald Trump defamed a guest TV commentator in his tweets. Judge Barbara Jaffe said in her decision Tuesday that Trump regularly skewers his critics on Twitter, and the reasonable reader would recognize his statements as opinion, according to the Hollywood…

Jan 10, 2017 1:56 PM CST

Backpage shuts down adult ads after report alleges content editing; SCOTUS denies cert in civil case

Backpage.com announced on Monday that it is shutting down its adult advertising section amid developments in the U.S. Supreme Court and a Senate subcommittee investigation. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied cert in Jane Doe v. Backpage.com, a civil suit filed by sex-trafficking victims that contended the website helps…

Jan 10, 2017 11:28 AM CST

Lawyer will have to ID dead Twitter user sued by James Woods, judge rules

Actor James Woods will learn the name of the person who called him a “cocaine addict” in a tweet, even though the Twitter user is no longer alive. In a decision on Tuesday, a Los Angeles judge ruled that the lawyer for the deceased Twitter user will have to reveal…

Jan 4, 2017 4:28 PM CST

Can Amazon’s Alexa provide murder clues? Digital assistants could aid prosecutions

Police in Bentonville, Arkansas, hope that Amazon’s Echo—which answers to the name Alexa—can help them solve a possible murder. Police served a search warrant on Amazon.com seeking information that may have been recorded by the device on the November night that Victor Collins was found dead in a hot tub…

Jan 4, 2017 7:30 AM CST

Wife’s unauthorized access to husband’s emails could violate Wiretap Act, 7th Circuit says

Putting an auto-forward on your husband’s email account when you suspect that he’s cheating on you can amount to a violation of the federal Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Act, the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided on Dec. 14. Paula Epstein, the defendant in the case, was sued…

Dec 21, 2016 4:30 PM CST

Transparency has become part of the NSA mission, its GC says

The old joke about the National Security Agency was that it was so secretive and mysterious that it really stood for “No Such Agency.” So it might be a bit of a shock to the system to see the NSA spearheading a public relations campaign to promote greater transparency—or at…

Dec 21, 2016 7:30 AM CST

‘It was horrible’ review is taken down; lawyer had filed court petition to find out who wrote it

A New York City lawyer who filed a court petition over a three-word Google review apparently got results, though it wasn’t through the court system. Lawyer Donald Tobias had filed a petition asking a judge to order disclosure of the reviewer who gave him one star and simply wrote, “It…

Dec 20, 2016 3:43 PM CST

Lawyers who pursued porn downloaders are indicted for alleged ‘extortionate tactics’

Two lawyers sanctioned by a federal judge for “abusive” copyright litigation against porn downloaders have been indicted for allegedly using sham clients to disguise that they owned the companies seeking damages for copyright infringement. The lawyers, John Steele and Paul Hansmeier, were charged an indictment made public on Friday, report…

Dec 19, 2016 9:51 AM CST

Lawyer seeks to identify author of three-word ‘horrible’ Google review

A New York City lawyer is asking a judge to order disclosure of the reviewer who gave him only one star and wrote this cryptic review: “It was horrible.” The petition (PDF) by lawyer Donald Tobias says he suspects the person who wrote the post believed he was a different…

Dec 13, 2016 9:36 AM CST

Judge tosses pimping charges against Backpage.com CEO and two ex-shareholders

Backpage.com CEO Carl Ferrer and two former controlling shareholders can’t be prosecuted for the website’s online ads for adult services, a California judge has ruled. Judge Michael Bowman of Sacramento County dismissed pimping charges against the trio late Friday, report the Recorder (sub. req.), the Phoenix New Times and the…

Dec 13, 2016 8:30 AM CST

Prosecutor’s office paid ransom to regain access to its computers; international network busted

The District Attorney’s office in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, paid nearly $1,400 in bitcoin to get access to its computer network, held hostage by criminals using an international computer malware ring known as the Avalanche. Court documents unsealed Monday referred to a ransom payment by a Pennsylvania prosecutor’s office, and Allegheny…

Dec 6, 2016 9:14 AM CST

Don’t click! Lawyers get fake emails about a complaint; hyperlink installs malicious software

Lawyers who receive emails about a complaint filed against their business may have a problem—but it’s not because of an angry client.

Dec 5, 2016 7:00 AM CST

In bid to protect online reviews, Congress OKs bill banning gag clauses in consumer contracts

Congress has passed a bipartisan bill that aims to protect negative online reviews by banning nondisparagement clauses in nonnegotiable consumer contracts. The bill is called the Consumer Review Fairness Act, report the Wall Street Journal Law Blog, Ars Technica, the Danbury News Times and a press release. The bill voids…

Dec 2, 2016 10:41 AM CST

Three additional judges were among senders of inappropriate emails, Pennsylvania report says

A report commissioned by former Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane found nearly 12,000 inappropriate emails were exchanged by government employees, including judges and lawyers. But the new attorney general who released the report, Bruce Beemer, said the report found no evidence of inappropriate ex parte communication between prosecutors and judges.…

Nov 23, 2016 10:27 AM CST

Beware of sites importing your contacts, and watch your social media comments, ethics opinions say

The ethics committee of the District of Columbia Bar is advising lawyers about some social media dangers in two ethics opinions released this month. Many issues addressed in the opinions have been widely explored in ethics opinions in other jurisdictions, but a couple of topics haven’t gotten much treatment in…

Nov 21, 2016 7:00 AM CST