Internet Law

Man is acquitted in felony murder case, but supporter faces charges over Facebook posts

Concerned that Kyler Carriker would be convicted in a controversial Kansas felony-murder case, Samuel McCrory made a few postings on Facebook, officials say. In fact, Carriker was acquitted Thursday by a Sedgwick County jury. He had faced at least 20 years in prison if he had been found guilty, KAKE…

Jul 31, 2015 1:55 PM CDT

Criticized by individual on Twitter, actor James Woods files unusual $10 million defamation suit

It’s not unusual for those in the public eye to be targeted for snarky comments on social media. But actor James Woods has made an uncommon response to what he describes as a completely false claim in an individual’s tweet that he is a cocaine addict—instead of ignoring it, he…

Jul 31, 2015 9:40 AM CDT

Google will fight French bid to extend ‘right to be forgotten’ worldwide

Google plans to appeal an order by France’s data protection agency that would extend the right to be forgotten to its search engine in all countries. The order by the Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés, known as CNIL, “is a troubling development that risks serious chilling effects on…

Jul 31, 2015 8:04 AM CDT

How should we regulate the ‘sharing economy’?

Cities are interested in transportation services offered by groups like Uber and Lyft, but they also have concerns about public safety, according to a recent survey (PDF) by the National League of Cities. Nicole DuPuis, who is a senior associate with the organization’s Center for City Solutions and Applied Research,…

Jul 30, 2015 7:35 PM CDT

US increasingly uses malware in law enforcement, expert says; should a warrant be required?

The Fourth Amendment should be interpreted to impose a warrant requirement when the U.S. government uses malware to hack computer systems for law enforcement purposes, according to a cybersecurity fellow at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation. The author of the article, posted at SSRN, is Jonathan Mayer,…

Jul 30, 2015 11:38 AM CDT

Georgia sues Carl Malamud group, calls publishing state’s annotated code of laws online unlawful

Corrected: A nonprofit founded by Carl Malamud, a 2009 ABA Journal Legal Rebel who was once described by the New York Times as a “self-styled Robin Hood of the information age,” has been sued by the state of Georgia. Public.Resource.Org is accused of violating copyright law by distributing the Official…

Jul 24, 2015 2:10 PM CDT

Mötley Crüe frontman settles suit over Facebook password

Mötley Crüe’s frontman filed a Nevada lawsuit sue to get his Facebook password back, after a woman he allowed to manage his social media accounts allegedly refused to provide it. Attorney James Kohl represents Vince Neil, and told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that no money was paid by his client…

Jul 23, 2015 11:20 AM CDT

Facebook lacks standing to challenge subpoenas of users’ info in disability case, appeals court says

A New York appeals court has sided with prosecutors in a closely watched Manhattan case, finding that Facebook lacked standing to challenge subpoenas requiring the social media company to turn over all information in the accounts of 381 people. Only the individuals in question can challenge the subpoenas, but reportedly…

Jul 22, 2015 10:05 AM CDT

Federal bill backed by Yelp would increase protections for online commenters

A federal bill that is backed by Yelp is designed to protect online commenters and others who speak out about matters of public concern when they face meritless defamation suits. The Speak Free Act (PDF) would require a plaintiff filing a suit against commenters or speakers in such cases to…

Jul 21, 2015 5:45 AM CDT

Lawyer is entitled to only $100 for ex-client’s post on Ripoff Report, appeals court says

A lawyer who sued a former client for calling him an unethical bully on ripoffreport.com can collect damages of only $100, a New York appeals court has ruled. The court reduced the original award of $125,000 to lawyer John Cahill in a brief decision that said the evidence doesn’t support…

Jul 16, 2015 11:29 AM CDT

Judge delays civil trial because of lawyer’s Facebook post

An Iowa judge has delayed a civil trial because of a Facebook post by a high-profile trial lawyer. In a ruling last week, the Polk County judge delayed the trial until November because of the post by lawyer Roxanne Conlin of Des Moines, the Des Moines Register reports in an…

Jul 14, 2015 10:37 AM CDT

Courthouse shooter’s relatives convicted of cyberstalking, face possible life prison terms

A federal jury in Wilmington, Delaware, has convicted three family members of a courthouse shooter of cyberstalking causing death. Lenore Matusiewicz and her children, David Matusiewicz and Amy Gonzalez, now face possible life prison terms when they are sentenced in October in the landmark case. Prosecutors say this is the…

Jul 10, 2015 11:40 AM CDT

Massive hack attack on feds compromised background-check info for 21.5M people

In a cyber intrusion described by the head of the FBI as “enormous,” hackers penetrated federal background-check databases to obtain access to confidential material, including social security numbers, for 21.5 million individuals, the Office of Personnel Management announced Thursday. Most of those affected, some 19.7 million people, had sought security…

Jul 9, 2015 4:05 PM CDT

Were relatives culpable in shooter’s deadly courthouse attack? Jury to decide in cyberstalking trial

A federal jury began deliberating Wednesday in an unusual cyberstalking case against three relatives of a man who committed a fatal courthouse shooting. Prosecutors say the wife, son and daughter of Thomas Matusiewicz played a role in his deadly Feb. 11, 2013 attack on Christine Belford and Laura Mulford, by…

Jul 9, 2015 12:10 PM CDT

Lawyer loses suit about blog posts, then sues Google over online comments they sparked

A Nevada attorney’s lawsuit against blogger Legal Eagle over posts to Wild Wild Law made in 2008 and 2009 was dismissed earlier this year on statute of limitations grounds. So Adam Kutner tried again, and is now suing the blog’s alleged Web host, Google Inc., over disparaging 2013 online comments…

Jul 8, 2015 10:30 AM CDT