LEGAL INSIGHTS AND NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN INTERNET LAW & ONLINE BUSINESS

For the most part, the Manti Te’O girlfriend scandal is long-forgotten fodder. But Dr. Phil McGraw’s people don’t want to let the scandal slide. The pop-psychology pioneer is suing Gawker Media for allegedly spoiling his two-part interview with Ronaiah Tuiasosopo – the mastermind behind the Te’O prank. To clarify, Dr. Phil, the man, is not suing Gawker; instead, Peteski Productions, the company that owns the Dr. Phil Show’s copyrights, is the plaintiff in this high-profile online copyright infringement case.
Specifically, the plaintiffs are arguing Gawker posted the outcome of a “cliffhanger” interview before the show aired in most markets. At [...]

Sadly, Aaron Swartz recently took his own life. An oppressive federal lawsuit, over a victim-less crime, is thought to be the true impetus for his death. If Swartz had lost the suit, it would’ve meant a multi-decade prison sentence for the computer genius.
To ensure nobody else in Aaron’s position feels forced to make the same ultimate sacrifice, Rep. Zoe Lofgren wants to change the law. The congresswoman from California introduced Aaron’s Law, an amendment to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
Aaron’s Story: Genius with a Yen for Information
Ever used an RSS feed? You can thank Aaron Swartz for that. As [...]

On June 9th, 2010, Gawker.com ran a story about Andrew Auernheimer (a.k.a., weev) and Daniel Spitler (a.k.a., JacksonBrown), two hackers from the Goatse Security team (GoatSec). Five weeks after Apple’s 3G-enabled iPad was released, Auernheimer and Spitler uncovered a gaping security hole, singular to the 3-G hardware, which exposed personally identifiable information of AT&T customers.
Last week, one of the bug hunters was convicted on one count of conspiring to access a computer without authorization – a violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) — and one count of fraud. To add insult to injury, his former hacking partner [...]

I was reading the other day on Techdirt, about a war that’s a-brewing in the open source community. In one corner we have the Wikimedia Foundation; in the other, Internet Brands – the company that owns and operates Wikitravel.com. A saga involving volunteer editors, a for-profit wiki site and bombastic court filings, the Wikitravel v. Wikimedia Foundation lawsuit, believe it or not, is so intriguing it could serve as the topic for a made for TV movie.
The Wikitravel.com Tale
Back in 2003, two developers started wikitravel.com using the open-source wiki code. In 2005, Internet Brands – an umbrella company with a [...]

Below the good ole’ Mason Dixon, at the U.S. District Court, in the Old Dominion state of Virginia, an employment lawsuit ostensibly fit for a modern-day Atticus Finch was recently heard – Bland v. Roberts. The drama involves the Hampton Virginia’s Sheriff’s Department, an election, an incumbent and the firing of several employees.
While the details of the actual staffing issue are better left for a human resources attorney, the case does have Internet law implications. Specifically it addresses the question of whether or not “liking” something on Facebook qualifies as “speech” protected by the First Amendment.
Internet Law Aspects of Bland [...]