California law requiring warrant for digital searches is ‘a landmark win for digital privacy’

A new California law requiring police to get warrants for online data is the most protective in the country. California Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, signed the Electronic Communications Privacy Act on Thursday, report Wired and CNet. The law requires law enforcement agencies in the state to get a warrant…

Oct 9, 2015 9:17 AM CDT

EU court strikes down agreement for digital transfers of personal data to US

The European Court of Justice ruled declared invalid an international agreement for moving its citizens’ digital data to U.S. servers, saying their privacy might be violated—especially by U.S. government surveillance, the New York Times reports. The ruling by the EU’s highest court, which cannot be appealed, is a serious blow…

Oct 6, 2015 10:47 AM CDT

Are fantasy sports payouts legal? CEO says it’s a game of skill like the stock market

Corrected: The CEO of the fantasy sports league DraftKings says payouts to players are permitted because it is a game of skill rather than a game of chance. CEO Jason Robins spoke about the legality last week at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Review-Journal, ESPN,…

Oct 6, 2015 6:15 AM CDT

Lawyer is reprimanded for Google ads linked to opposing lawyers in timeshare litigation

Updated: A South Carolina lawyer has been reprimanded for buying Google ads that were linked to keyword searches for three opposing lawyers in timeshare litigation. The South Carolina Supreme Court reprimanded lawyer Zachary Steven Naert, who bought the ads for his firm Naert & DuBois, the Legal Profession Blog reports.…

Oct 1, 2015 8:49 AM CDT

New ‘.law’ suffix could set off a domain gold rush

Oct 1, 2015 7:30 AM CDT

Fugitive NSA leaker Edward Snowden joins Twitter

Edward Snowden is a wanted man in the U.S., following his disclosure of confidential government documents he obtained while working for the National Security Agency. However, that didn’t prevent Snowden from setting up a Twitter account, where he quickly gained more followers than the NSA, reports the Los Angeles Times…

Sep 30, 2015 4:10 PM CDT

Was lawyer’s courtroom selfie photo a breach of decorum?

A Wisconsin lawyer who snapped a selfie of himself and a client after winning a murder acquittal didn’t get a “like” from the judge after he posted the picture on Facebook. The lawyer, Anthony Cotton of Waukesha, took the photo on Sept. 18 after court had adjourned, while courtroom staffers…

Sep 29, 2015 9:07 AM CDT

Jimmy Kimmel wins appeal over use of ‘Flying Rabbi’ YouTube video in comedy bit

A New York appeals court has sided with Jimmy Kimmel in a suit contending the comedian’s use of a YouTube video invaded a New York man’s privacy. New York’s Appellate Division, Second Department, upheld a finding that Kimmel’s use of the video was not used for advertising or trade purposes,…

Sep 25, 2015 9:56 AM CDT

Lawyer gets suspension for blog posts about ‘feeding frenzy’ of connected lawyers

Updated: An Illinois lawyer who blogged about a probate case has been suspended because of her posts alleging a “feeding frenzy” of court-connected lawyers in Chicago’s “sleazy world of probate.” The lawyer, JoAnne Marie Denison, was suspended for three years, and until further order of the Illinois Supreme Court, the…

Sep 24, 2015 12:46 PM CDT

French regulators reject Google’s attempts to limit the scope of European privacy ruling

French regulators have dealt a blow to Google’s hopes of limiting the scope of the “right to be forgotten.” The New York Times reported on Monday that French data protection agency Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertes (CNIL) has handed down an expansive ruling bolstering a privacy decision issued…

Sep 21, 2015 3:20 PM CDT

Class action suit seeks damages from Twitter over claimed direct-message privacy violations

Twitter Inc. is violating federal and state privacy statutes by intercepting messages that it bills as “private” and inserting new (and shortened) URLs for hyperlinks, a federal lawsuit says. Filed Monday in San Francisco, it seeks class action status concerning a massive group of individuals who have sent or received…

Sep 15, 2015 2:25 PM CDT

Blamed by lawsuit for nursing student’s suicide, Penn and Amazon say her death was not foreseeable

Blamed in a lawsuit for the death of a nursing student who committed suicide in 2013 by taking cyanide, the University of Pennsylvania and Amazon say in a Thursday filing that they are not responsible because the death was not reasonably foreseeable. Penn also contends it had no special relationship…

Sep 15, 2015 10:25 AM CDT

Copyright holders must consider fair use before sending takedown notices, 9th Circuit says

It’s been eight years since Stephanie Lenz posted the video of her infant son dancing to Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” onto YouTube that started her long-running conflict with Universal Music Corp., the holder of Prince’s copyrights. According to Reuters, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday…

Sep 14, 2015 5:20 PM CDT

Tech companies fight Justice Department over access to data

Apple, Google and Microsoft want to reassure customers that they are fighting the U.S. government’s access to data, resulting in conflicts with the U.S. Justice Department. The New York Times has a report that says the conflicts “reflect heightened corporate resistance, in the post-Edward J. Snowden era.” In one case,…

Sep 9, 2015 5:45 AM CDT

Federal law may not shield Backpage.com in suit by trafficked girls, state supreme court says

The Washington Supreme Court has ruled the Communications Decency Act may not shield Backpage.com from liability in a suit by three girls who were trafficked on the website. The suit alleges that Backpage.com helped develop the ads for the girls through its posted rules, making the site more than just…

Sep 4, 2015 7:05 AM CDT