News Links [1]

I sent this list out to the CMLP's team of intrepid bloggers to pique their interest, but with things being a bit slow around the office today, I figured I'd avoid the middleman. 

Things that caught my eye this past week:

• Who owns the facts? The AP and the "hot news" controversy [2] - We aren't likely to see this issue go away any time soon. For more on "hot news" misappropriation, see this CMLP blog post [3].


• California Bill Intended To Reduce Libel Tourism [4] and related Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld: California Acts to Stop Libel Tourism [5] - Another topic we've covered in the past [6], but one that deserves to be kept on the front burner.  We are still waiting for a federal law [7] to address the practice of foreign plaintiffs who pick the jurisdiction with the most draconian libel laws in which to sue.


• Prison Awaiting Hostile Bloggers [8] - Moving from a law we need to one we surely don't need, U.S. Representative Linda Sanchez proposes to criminalize speech that causes substantial emotional distress through "severe, repeated, and hostile" speech.  Unconstitutional [9]?  You betcha.


• U.S. Supreme Court Vacates and Remands "Janet Jackson" Indecency Case to Third Circuit [10] and related Supreme Court remands FCC "nipplegate" case to lower court [11] - Not much to add here, except to note that isn't it time to retire the use of the word "gate" [12]?


• Why the Law and Tech Aren’t Friends on MySpace [13] - A fascinating case involving a bartender and waitress at a restaurant who were fired because of comments they made about their employer in a private MySpace forum.

I also wanted to give a shout out to a new student-run blog that focuses on media law issues: Suffolk Law School's Media and Communications Law Society [14].  Their thoughtful commentary on issues ranging from online privacy to copyright legislation is well worth a read.