Media & Communications Law

American Lawyer Founder: Use Blogger ‘Parasites’ As NYT Sales Force

The founder of American Lawyer and Court TV has written a once-confidential memo to the New York Times advising the newspaper to stop giving away its content for free. The Romenesko blog at Poynter Online obtained the memo from an anonymous source and got confirmation from Brill that he was…

Feb 9, 2009 7:01 PM CST

Scalia Chastises Student for ‘Nasty, Impolite Question’ on Court Cameras

Updated: A 20-year-old student got an icy retort from Justice Antonin Scalia on Tuesday when she asked why cameras are not permitted in the U.S. Supreme Court. Sarah Jeck, a political science student at Florida Atlantic University, asked about cameras during a question-and-answer session at a luncheon in West Palm…

Feb 4, 2009 8:00 PM CST

Lawyer Who Sued Company CEO is Target of Claimed Cyber-Attack Campaign

In nearly 20 years as a trial lawyer, Keith Fink has encountered plenty of hardball litigation tactics. But the cyber attacks he has suffered since he began representing former employees of American Apparel in litigation against the company are unique. “I’ve never experienced it, I don’t know any lawyer that’s…

Jan 28, 2009 1:55 AM CST

Oops. Internal E-mails Undercut Litigation Position on Fair Use Issue

Lawyers, of course, are well aware of the need to exercise discretion in internal communications that could later come to light in litigation. But an exchange of e-mails among executives at the GateHouse newspaper chain is now an issue in federal fair-use litigation with the Boston Globe. The exchange and…

Jan 22, 2009 7:13 PM CST

Newspaper Sues Newspaper in Spat Over Circulation Claims

An Oklahoma newspaper publisher filed a libel suit against a competitor, after the rival publication refused to retract claims that the Tulsa World had inflated its circulation figures. But the Urban Tulsa Weekly and its editor and publisher will now be dropped from the suit, because the weekly has agreed…

Jan 22, 2009 6:17 PM CST

US Appeals Court Orders Expedited Briefs in Webcast Challenge

A federal appeals court has ordered expedited briefing in a challenge to a Boston judge’s order allowing a live Internet broadcast of a hearing in an illegal downloading suit. The hearing—which would have been the first free broadcast of a federal court session live on the Internet—had originally been scheduled…

Jan 22, 2009 4:30 PM CST

Judge Explains Why He Allowed Reporter to Live Blog Federal Criminal Trial

U.S. District Judge Mark Bennett of Sioux City, Iowa, is a tech-savvy judge in a district with high-tech courtrooms. When he was a practicing lawyer in a small law firm, Bennett was willing to pay an “outrageously expensive” amount to make his office possibly the first in the state to…

Jan 16, 2009 10:46 PM CST

Will Unidentified Telecom Appeal Previously Secret Wiretap Ruling?

Secrecy makes it impossible for reporters to inquire whether a telecommunications company will appeal a previously undisclosed ruling rejecting a constitutional challenge to a law requiring cooperation in warrantless wiretaps. The case could go to the U.S. Supreme Court, but reporters can’t ask the telecom if it plans an appeal…

Jan 16, 2009 4:37 PM CST

Intelligence Court Releases Opinion Upholding Broad Wiretap Law

Updated: A federal intelligence court released an opinion today upholding the power of Congress to authorize wiretaps of international communications with a broad court order. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review issued the secret decision in August, and a redacted version was released today, the New York Times reports.…

Jan 15, 2009 2:38 PM CST

Obama Reportedly Set to Name Harvard Buddy as FCC Chairman

President-elect Barack Obama is reportedly set to nominate an old Harvard friend, Julius Genachowski, to become chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. The New York Times reported on the expected nomination on the Caucus blog. Genachowski, a technology executive, served on the Harvard Law Review with Obama and was one…

Jan 13, 2009 4:07 PM CST

Associate Attorney General Nominee Sued File Sharers for RIAA

Technology blogs are talking about some controversial lawsuits filed by Barack Obama’s nominee for associate attorney general. Jenner & Block’s Tom Perrelli has represented the Recording Industry Association of America in “a slew of cases, including a high-profile bid to unmask file sharers without the requirement of a judge reviewing…

Jan 7, 2009 7:09 PM CST

Appeals Court Cites Detainees’ Privacy Rights in Barring Abuse Disclosure

A federal appeals court has ruled the government does not have to disclose the identities of Guantanamo Bay detainees who claim they were abused in custody. The New York City-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the detainees and their family members have a privacy interest in their identifying…

Jan 6, 2009 5:05 PM CST

Judge Allows Bloggers to Use Computers, Cell Phones for Live Trial Coverage

A judge in Boulder, Colo., has refused to ban cell phones and computers from the child abuse trial of a man accused in the death of his infant son. On Monday Judge Lael Montgomery turned down a joint motion filed by prosecutors and defense lawyers to bar live-blogging in the…

Jan 6, 2009 4:36 PM CST

Ex-Prosecutor Seeks Contempt for Reporter Shielding Sources

Former federal prosecutor Richard Convertino is seeking a contempt order and fines between $500 and $5,000 a day for a Detroit Free Press reporter who has declined to reveal his sources in a Justice Department investigation into Convertino’s handling of a now-discredited terrorism case. David Ashenfelter, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist,…

Dec 24, 2008 12:15 PM CST

FBI Agent who was Deep Throat Dies at 95

An FBI official who leaked information on the Watergate burglary and cover-up has died at the age of 95. W. Mark Felt Sr., who was second-in-command under J. Edgar Hoover, died Thursday in a hospice near his home, report the Washington Post and the New York Times. Felt was the…

Dec 19, 2008 11:50 AM CST