Wiretapping, SOPA, Occupy: 2011 Was a Tumultuous Year in Media Law
This piece is co-authored by Jeff Hermes and Andy Sellars.This year turned out to be one that could fit well in a Billy Joel song: peppered protesters, jailed journalists, Internet crusaders ... the list goes on. To recap a year that h...
A Recap of NDN’s Panel on Advancing Internet Freedom
n Tuesday July 20th 2010, NDN hosted a speaker panel titled Advancing Internet Freedom: Tackling Barriers to the Global Free Flow of Information. This event featured Daniel Calingaert and Anita Ramasastry two prominent authorities on the topic of internet censorship and the power of online freedom of speech. During their presentations, both presenters discussed topics...
Gawker Settles a Libel Suit With a Correction, but Not a Check
Sometimes Nick Denton likes to boast about Gawker Media's legal battles. Other times, he keeps quiet. Like earlier this month, when Denton settled a libel suit filed by motorcycle-maker Confederate Motors.
Big Music Wins One: LimeWire Loses Court Fight
A big victory for Big Music: A federal court has ruled in favor of the music labels in their fight against LimeWire, one of the most prominent file-sharing services on the Web.
Will Google Sidewiki Shift Control of Online Comments?
Journalists and news outlets are accustomed to offering comments and criticisms about others, but they're not as used to being the subject of public comment themselves. In the online world, where technology can and does upend established relationships, journalists and online news outlets...
Bloggers to be Subject to FTC Endorsement Disclosure Laws
The Federal Trade Commission Monday released revised regulations holding bloggers responsible for disclosing any freebies or payment associated with their writing.
“The post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement,” the FTC said in a statement. “Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material...
RealNetworks Loses First Ruling in RealDVD Case
Well, this isn’t too much of a surprise, but a federal court found that RealNetworks’ DVD ripping software RealDVD violated copyright law. U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Patel issued a preliminary injunction yesterday that will prohibit the company from selling RealDVD until a jury can decide the case.It’s hard to believe this has been going...
Posner’s dangerous thinking
Mike Masnick on techdirt points us to some dangerous and incomplete thinking from Judge Richard Posner on his blog. At the bottom, Posner writes:
Expanding copyright law to bar online access to copyrighted materials without the copyright holder’s consent, or to bar linking to or paraphrasing copyrighted materials without the copyright holder’s consent, might be necessary...
Is It Legal for an Editor to Unmask an Anonymous Commenter?
On November 13, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's website, StLToday, asked readers to comment on a story titled, "What's the craziest thing you've ever eaten?"
Soon, a commenter posted a reply that included a "vulgar, two-syllable word for a part of a woman's...