Welcome to the Citizen Media Law Brief, a weekly newsletter highlighting recent blog posts, media law news, legal threat entries, and other new content on the Citizen Media Law Project's website. You are receiving this email because you have expressed interest in the CMLP or registered on our site, www.citmedialaw.org. If you do not wish to receive this newsletter, you can unsubscribe by following the link at the bottom of this email or by going to http://www.citmedialaw.org/newsletter/subscriptions.

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The latest from the Citizen Media Law Project blog...

David Ardia evaluates the criminal charges against Lori Drew over her use of MySpace.
Lori Drew Indicted For Misuse of MySpace in Megan Meier Suicide Case

David Ardia previews the Berkman@10 Conference.
Berkman@10 Conference

David Ardia laments a settlement that forestalled a decision on the scope of Illinois' anti-SLAPP statute.
Case Testing Illinois' New Anti-SLAPP Law Settles Before Court Can Clarify Reach of Citizen Participation Act

Sam Bayard follows Oregon's pursuit of copyright claims in its statutes.
Update on Oregon Statutes Copyright Spat

Sam Bayard discusses a California court's ruling against a brazenly unconstitutional injunction.
Evans v. Evans: Appellate Court Throws Out Prior Restraint

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Recent threats added to the CMLP database...

Melius v. Keiffer
Posted May 14th, 2008

Lifestyle Lift Holding, Inc. v. Bowler
Posted May 13th, 2008

Jaeger v. Okon
Posted May 13th, 2008

Evans v. Evans
Posted May 13th, 2008

Tiny Details, LLC v. Ward
Posted May 12th, 2008

USMLEWORLD v. Digg
Posted May 12th, 2008

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Other citizen media law news...

Photographer acquitted of charge of interfering with police
First Amendment Center - Thurs. 5/15/08

Sony BMG Sends YouTube Ad Instead of Takedown
Wendy's Blog - Thurs. 5/15/08

Twittering From the Courtroom
Legal Blog Watch - Thurs. 5/15/08

Mormons, Scientologists face uphill battle against Wikileaks
Ars Technica - Wed. 5/14/08

Facebook Sued to Reveal Identity of Fake Poster
Tech Law Prof Blog - Mon. 5/12/08

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The full(er) Brief...

"Lori Drew was indicted on Thursday for her alleged role in a hoax on MySpace directed at Megan Meier, a 13-year-old neighbor of Drew's who committed suicide in October 2006 after a 'boy' she met on MySpace abruptly turned on her and ended their relationship. The boy was allegedly Lori Drew, who pretended to be 16-year-old 'Josh Evans' to gain the trust of Megan, who had been fighting with Drew's daughter. I've blogged about this tragic story several times and noted in January that the Los Angeles Times was reporting that a federal grand jury in Los Angeles had begun issuing subpoenas in the case. The grand jury has now charged Drew with conspiracy and three counts of accessing protected computers without authorization in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). . . . Orin Kerr and Daniel Solove at Volokh Conspiracy and Concurring Opinions, respectively, have parsed the language in the CFAA and concluded that while Drew's alleged conduct is reprehensible, it is not illegal. Both Kerr and Solove argue that to predicate a criminal prosecution on the violation of a site's terms of service is a big stretch. . . ."
David Ardia, Lori Drew Indicted For Misuse of MySpace in Megan Meier Suicide Case

We are all at the Berkman@10 Conference at Harvard Law School today and tomorrow, so postings will be a bit light. The conference, subtitled 'The Future of the Internet' (based on Jonathan Zittrain's engaging new book of the same title), includes a number of Internet luminaries such as Jimmy Wales, Esther Dyson, Joshua Micah Marshall, Doc Searls, David Weinberger, Michael Fricklas, and Reed Hundt. . . ."
David Ardia, Berkman@10 Conference

"In what would have been the first case to test Illinois' newly enacted Citizen Participation Act [CPA], which provides immunity for speech related to certain matters of government and public concern, the parties settled before a court could interpret this important addition to the growing list of state anti-SLAPP laws. (SLAPP stands for 'Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation' and refers to lawsuits filed in retaliation against the target's speaking out on a public issue or controversy. ) SLAPPs are typically brought by corporations, developers, or government officials against individuals or community organizations that oppose their actions. To guard against the chilling effect of SLAPPs, twenty-five states have anti-SLAPP laws. . . . Unfortunately, we will just have to wait for an Illinois court to provide its take on the CPA. With the growing number of lawsuits being filed against citizen media, I don't think we will have to wait long."
David Ardia, Case Testing Illinois' New Anti-SLAPP Law Settles Before Court Can Clarify Reach of Citizen Participation Act

"Ars Technica reminds us that the copyright squabble between the Legislative Counsel Committee of the State of Oregon (the 'Committee') and Justia and Public.Resource.Org is still going on, and it may erupt into a full-on legal battle soon. That would be fine, in my view, because we could use a strong court decision putting to rest the argument that the 'arrangement and display' of state statutes are copyrightable. . . . After a rather feisty beginning, Carl Malamud from Public.Resource.Org and Tim Stanley from Justia participated in a conference call with Committee representatives in late April, during which they discussed the possibility of a mutually acceptable licensing solution. As part of this negotiation, Oregon proposed a 'public license' that would allow Justia and Public.Resource.Org to continue to post the Oregon Revised Statutes. I haven't been able to get a copy of the proposed license itself, but it sounds like it was complicated and restrictive. . . . On May 2, [Justia and Public.Resource.Org's] attorney Karl Olson sent a letter to the Committee unequivocaly rejecting the 'public license' and declaring that the parties had reached an impasse. . . ."
Sam Bayard, Update on Oregon Statutes Copyright Spat

"Yesterday, a California appellate court struck down a brazenly unconstitutional preliminary injunction prohibiting two defendants from making 'false and defamatory statements' about, or publishing the 'confidential personal information' of, Thomas Evans, a deputy sheriff in San Diego. The case, Evans v. Evans, 2008 WL 2009669 (Cal. Ct. App. May 12, 2008), involves a nasty post-divorce dispute between Thomas Evans and his former wife, Linda Evans, and her mother, Shirley Preddy. Linda and Preddy allegedly posted false statements about Thomas on various websites, filed complaints about him with his employer, and published confidential information from his medical and financial records on the Internet. The lower court granted Thomas a broad preliminary injunction against their alleged misconduct, without specifying any particular forbidden statements or defining what 'confidential personal information' means. The appellate court held that the preliminary injunction was an unconstitutional prior restraint on speech, and that it was unconstitutionally vague because it failed to alert Linda and Preddy as to what conduct would violate the court's order. The case itself is relatively prosaic; it is interesting largely because it demonstrates yet again just how unfamiliar many lower court judges are with basic First Amendment principles. Beyond that, it tells us two important things about California law relating to prior restraints. . . ."
Sam Bayard, Evans v. Evans: Appellate Court Throws Out Prior Restraint