Privacy Law

As Law Student Readies Reverse Auction Site, Law Bloggers React to ‘eBay’ of Lawyering

Updated: At 21 years old, Robert Grant Niznik began asking himself the same stress-inducing question looming over all law students: What am I going to do after graduation? Niznik’s graduation musings led him to contemplate the plight of indebted law students struggling to find jobs in a bleak economic climate…

Mar 14, 2011 3:26 PM CDT

Fla. Couple’s Suit over Anonymous Claim of Affair Part of Textual Harassment Litigation Trend

A Florida couple is seeking the identity of a person who sent an anonymous text message claiming the husband was having an affair with one of his employees. Their suit claiming defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress is part of growing trend of litigation involving “textual harassment,” the Naples…

Mar 14, 2011 2:53 PM CDT

A ‘Pro-Business’ Supreme Court? Recent Rulings Favor Workers and Injured Plaintiffs

Recent decisions indicate the U.S. Supreme Court isn’t reflexively pro-business, despite some assertions to the contrary. So far this term, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has had four losses and just one win, the Los Angeles Times reports. The court has also sided with “hard-luck plaintiffs who were mistreated by…

Mar 14, 2011 11:00 AM CDT

Judge Order May Remove Acclaimed Film on Mexico’s Flawed Justice System from Mexican Theaters

A critically lauded documentary on Mexico’s corrupt justice system may be pulled from theaters after a federal judge received a complaint from a disgruntled witness who appears in the film. Presumed Guilty, which tells the story of an innocent man who is found guilty of murder twice, is facing legal…

Mar 8, 2011 7:21 PM CST

Magistrate OKs IP Address Turnover to Sony for All Visitors to Unauthorized PlayStation 3 Site

It isn’t just George Hotz who may soon be feeling the heat from his publication of a “jailbreak” encryption key and software tools on his website that allow PlayStation 3 owners to run their own programs on the consoles. A federal magistrate judge in the Northern District of California has…

Mar 7, 2011 7:08 PM CST

Lawyers Suing Over Suspect’s Shooting Death Seek Facebook Information for 57 Officers

An Albuquerque, N.M., policeman who listed his job description as “human waste disposal” on Facebook has caught the attention of lawyers who filed a wrongful death suit against the city for a police shooting in January 2010. The lawyers are asking the city to provide Facebook usernames and passwords of…

Mar 4, 2011 1:44 PM CST

Online Commenters Who Targeted CEO Must Be Identified, Judge Rules

An Indianapolis judge has ruled the state’s shield law does not bar the release of identifying information about online commenters in a defamation lawsuit. The ruling by Judge S.K. Reid of Marion Superior Court requires the Indianapolis Star and the Indianapolis Business Journal to release information about anonymous posters, the…

Mar 3, 2011 12:49 PM CST

Two New Mug Shots of Accused Arizona Shooter Released Over Objections of His Lawyer, Government

Two new mug shots of Jared Lee Loughner, the man accused of the Arizona shootings that left six dead and injured 13 others in January, were released Tuesday. In a hearing on Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Larry Burns refused to seal Loughner’s photographs, prompting the U.S. Marshals Service to…

Feb 25, 2011 10:46 PM CST

Abortion Doc’s Sensitive Patient Records Were Stored in Ex-AG Employee’s Home, Ethics Panel Is Told

Under fire for allegedly mishandling sensitive patient records from an abortion doctor in addition to other claimed violations of attorney ethics rules, a former attorney general of Kansas and district attorney has contended the disciplinary case against him is politically motivated. But the No. 2 man in the AG’s office…

Feb 24, 2011 8:34 PM CST

Google Fights to Keep Documents Secret in Trademark Appeal

Google is famous for bringing information to the Internet, but it’s fighting to keep several documents secret in a pending appeal. Language software maker Rosetta Stone appealed to the Richmond, Va.-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after a federal judge ruled for Google in a trademark dispute, Bloomberg reported…

Feb 23, 2011 11:29 AM CST

New York Daily News Complies with Judge Order, Discloses Confidential Source

The New York Daily News revealed information about a confidential source earlier this month to comply with a trial judge’s order. The Daily News disclosed the confidential source information to avoid the risk of adverse appellate court ruling that could broadly affect New York’s shield law, the First Amendment Center…

Feb 22, 2011 11:00 PM CST

Wi-Fi Users Are At Risk for Widespread Hacking, New York Times Says

Think the password to your social networking account keeps your information secure? Think again. Especially for those who use unsecured Wi-Fi networks in public, but even for those who have wireless Internet connections at home, there is a big issue. It is now remarkably easy for even unskilled hackers, in…

Feb 19, 2011 12:59 AM CST

Google Transforms Jury Selection Process

Some lawyers, surreptitiously searching sites to uncover the personal details of potential jurors, are instigating a privacy debate and raising questions about whether the online vetting process has enough court supervision. Before selecting jurors, lawyers conduct in-depth searches, delving into individuals’ online identities to ascertain how they are likely to…

Feb 18, 2011 9:19 PM CST

Many Usernames Can Be Used to ID and Track Individuals, Researchers Say

If you have the same username on eBay, Google and MySpace, there’s a good chance you may be identifiable. French researchers at the National Institute for Computing and Automation Research in Grenoble have found that about half of the individuals who use the same moniker on multiple sites like these…

Feb 17, 2011 1:28 AM CST

As Probe Widens, Lawyer Says Celebrities Can’t Prove Tabloid’s Investigator Hacked Voice Mail

Two celebrities who claim their cell phone voice mail was hacked by an investigator with the U.K.’s News of the World may not be able to prove it, a lawyer for the tabloid told a London court today. According to Bloomberg News, the plaintiffs, actor Steve Coogan and sports commentator…

Feb 15, 2011 7:58 PM CST