Internet Law

China human rights lawyer gets suspended sentence for online posts

China human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang has received a suspended three-year sentence for “inciting ethnic hatred” and “picking quarrels” in online posts. The sentence has the effect of barring Pu from law practice, report the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.). He has already been imprisoned…

Dec 22, 2015 11:30 AM CST

Law prof proposes law to shut down ISIS recruitment online; is it constitutional?

Donald Trump’s search for “brilliant people” to help him close the Internet to ISIS could extend to University of Chicago law professor Eric Posner, who proposes a new law to clamp down on ISIS recruitment. The law—which is likely unconstitutional under modern precedent—would make it a crime to access websites…

Dec 17, 2015 5:45 AM CST

Chinese officers scuffle with protesters outside trial of human-rights lawyer

It took about three hours on Monday for a Chinese court to try a human-rights lawyer accused of “picking quarrels” and inciting ethnic hatred for his sarcastic posts on a website similar to Twitter. The New York Times calls the trial of Pu Zhiqiang “the latest attempt by the Communist…

Dec 14, 2015 8:51 AM CST

Moms sue Mattel, saying ‘Hello Barbie’ doll violates privacy

The maker of a talking “Hello Barbie” doll says the toy complies with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. To satisfy COPPA requirements, Hello Barbie users agree to create a ToyTalk account before the doll’s conversation feature is activated and its owner’s remarks are transmitted, via a built-in wifi microphone,…

Dec 9, 2015 11:25 AM CST

Appeals court tosses conviction in ‘cannibal cop’ case, says fantasizing about murder isn’t a crime

Fantasizing about violence isn’t a crime, a federal appeals court says in an opinion on Thursday that tosses the convictions of a former New York police officer dubbed the “cannibal cop.” The 2-1 decision (PDF) by the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirms a federal court decision…

Dec 3, 2015 12:51 PM CST

Former Internet provider can finally reveal what the FBI wanted to know in 2004, judge rules

After 11 years of litigation, the onetime owner of an Internet company can finally reveal what kind of information the FBI had sought about one of his customers. A federal judge has lifted a gag order that had prevented Nicholas Merrill from revealing the contents of the national security letter…

Dec 1, 2015 12:52 PM CST

California woman who bought Eurail pass in US can’t sue here for Austrian accident, SCOTUS says

A California woman can’t sue the Austrian national railroad in U.S. courts for an accident in Austria, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday. The suit by plaintiff Carol Sachs is barred here because her allegations don’t fall within an exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, the Supreme Court…

Dec 1, 2015 9:48 AM CST

Teenager whose prank calls sent armed SWAT teams to dozens of US homes got 16 months

A single Canadian teenager made dozens of prank phone calls to police throughout the U.S., sending SWAT teams to hold innocent individuals at gunpoint at their homes as authorities investigated his false claims of dangerous crimes in progress. But because of both legal loopholes and the teen’s location on the…

Nov 25, 2015 2:30 PM CST

Belgium authorities ask for Internet silence on police ops; Twitterverse responds with cat memes

Concerned that social media messages could alert suspects in Brussels, where police have been conducting sweeps for possible terrorists linked to recent Paris attacks, authorities in Belgium asked the country’s citizens and news media to refrain from tweets and Internet posts about raids. Over the weekend, defense minister Steven Vandeput…

Nov 23, 2015 4:05 PM CST

7th Circuit: Sheriff must stop asking credit card companies to cease business with Backpage.com

A federal appeals court has ordered Cook County, Illinois, Sheriff Thomas Dart to stop taking any action—formally or informally—that seeks to persuade credit card companies not to do business with Backpage.com. The Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted the injunction Monday pending an appeal by Backpage, which contends…

Nov 20, 2015 5:45 AM CST

YouTube to pay defense costs for some video creators facing takedown demands

Seeking to protect the free speech rights of video creators, and perhaps its own market share as well, YouTube announced Thursday that it is funding legal defense costs for a handful of video creators facing unreasonable takedown demands. “We want, when we can, to have our users’ backs,” Fred von…

Nov 19, 2015 3:50 PM CST

Ex-prosecutor takes plea in child-porn case involving client’s children

Already sentenced in September to 50 years in a state-court child-rape case, a former South Dakota county prosecutor pleaded guilty on Tuesday in a federal child-pornography case that involved abuse of a client’s children. Christopher Jansen, 35, even used the one boy’s photo as an avatar on a website that…

Nov 18, 2015 3:00 PM CST

Lawsuits say Vizio smart TV tracking violates federal video-rental statute

Unbeknownst to many consumers who purchase Vizio smart televisions, the TVs are collecting data on their household viewing habits unless buyers actively opt out. Since the software also collects information about other devices linked into the home’s computer system, it may not be difficult for third parties to which Vizio…

Nov 18, 2015 11:15 AM CST

Nevada man is arrested for alleged Facebook threats against federal judge

A Henderson, Nevada, man is accused of threatening the life of a federal judge in comments made on Facebook. Jason Andre Willis, 40, was charged with threatening interstate communications, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. He has been detained pending a Nov. 30 preliminary hearing. An FBI complaint alleges Willis made…

Nov 17, 2015 9:02 AM CST

‘Hand-wringing’ over digital surveillance is obstacle in terrorism fight, CIA director says

CIA director John Brennan said on Monday that public “hand-wringing” and leaks involving digital surveillance have made it harder to identify “murderous sociopaths” of ISIS. Speaking at conference in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Brennan said he hoped the Paris terrorist attacks would be a “wake-up call.” The Washington Post and…

Nov 17, 2015 7:20 AM CST