Week of September 4, 2009 [1]
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...
Arthur Bright discusses some judicial practices that give new meaning to the phrase "the eyes of the law."
The Judge Would Like to Be Your "Friend" [2]
Kimberley Isbell fires up the Bat-Signal.
We're Looking for a Few Good Interns [3]
Andrew Moshirnia is upset that the Florida Bar iz in ur Facebookz, lookin at ur picturz.
Florida Nukes the Fridge: Facebook, the Bar, and the Latest Entry in the Social Network Hijacking Saga [4]
Kimberley Isbell gives the Stupid-Lawsuit-of-the-Week Award to Cash4Gold.
All That Glitters Isn't Gold [5]
Sam Bayard reports that Lori Drew is officially off the (legal) hook, even though she didn't take her mother's advice about what to do when she doesn't have something nice to say.
Judge Issues Opinion Overturning Lori Drew's Conviction [6]
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Recent threats added to the CMLP database...
Cash4Gold v. Liberis [7]
Posted Sept. 3, 2009
Palin v. Latif [8]
Posted Sept. 2, 2009
Metropolitan Transit Authority v. Schoenfeld [9]
Posted Sept. 2, 2009
Rosenberg v. Spicy Bear Media [10]
Posted Aug. 31, 2009
California Bar v. Wilson [11]
Posted Aug. 31, 2009
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Other citizen media law news...
Technology & Marketing Law Blog [12] - Thurs. 9/3/09
Gotcha! Why Online Anonymity May Be Fading
NPR Online [13] - Wed. 9/2/09
NFL bans tweeting before, during, after games
CNET [14] - Tues. 9/1/09
Shrinking Newsrooms Wage Fewer Battles for Public Access to Courtrooms
New York Times [15] - Mon. 8/31/09
Google May Hand Over Caribbean Journalists' IP Addresses
ReadWriteWeb [16] - Mon. 8/31/09
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The full(er) Brief...
"I'm always pleased to see judges embracing new technology. And it's not just because, as an aspiring lawyer and a Webby, techie guy, my ability to find a job in this economy may depend on it. I really do believe that technology can help judges do their jobs better. Thus, it was with great interest that I read this article, published in Texas Lawyer and posted on Law.com, which examines how three Texas judges take advantage of Facebook and other social networking sites in their daily duties. Some of the article comes across as a bit of a no-brainer to Web denizens: the gist of the third judge's story was that she's seeing an increase in material from social networking sites being introduced as evidence. . . . But the tales of the other two raise some interesting points of discussion. The first judge, Judge Susan Criss of Galveston's 212th District Court, only started to use Facebook this year, but is now 'a Facebook regular,' friending lawyers for networking and campaigning purposes. . . . Much to Judge Criss's chagrin, though, she has discovered that people are a little too forthcoming in their profiles and status updates: 'In her six months on Facebook, Criss has read all sorts of surprising comments posted by litigants and lawyers. 'I've seen witnesses talk [on Facebook] about a case they are going to testify on. I've seen litigants bragging about anticipating making a lot of money. . . .'' She also offers a few great tales of Facebook faux pas. My favorite: "Criss recalls that recently a lawyer told her she needed a continuance because of a death in her family. . . . 'I knew from her bragging on a Facebook account that she had been partying that same week,' Criss says. . . ." Of course, more than anything, Judge Criss's tale is a lesson on how lawyers need to smarten up when it comes to using social networking sites. But I find myself a bit worried about the prospect of judges using social networking to police those who appear in their courtroom. . . . [T]he situation would become somewhat Big Brotherly, were her approach to be more widely adopted. Indeed, the story of the second judge, Associate Judge Kathryn Lanan, brings this sort of concern into focus. Judge Lanan serves as a juvenile court referee and has taken to requiring that all those juveniles whose cases she hears make their social networking pages open to the public, so that she (and other judges) might monitor them (sorry Andrew, yet another example for your social network hijacking saga). . . ."
Arthur Bright, The Judge Would Like to Be Your "Friend" [2]
"It's that time of year again. After a productive summer (thanks, summer interns!), things are starting to pick up around CMLP world headquarters. After several days of dodging overstuffed minivans and new students wandering lost around campus, we're moving full steam ahead into a new school year. We've got exciting things coming up (some of which will remain under wraps for a little while longer). But we need some help. We're looking for two or three (paid!) part-time interns to work on our various projects. In return, you get to see our smiling faces on a regular basis. And you may even get 15 minutes of YouTube fame out of the deal. . . ."
Kimberley Isbell, We're Looking for a Few Good Interns [3]
"It's rarely a good sign when a series grows beyond a trilogy. You end up with pod racing, fridge nuking, and Winona Ryder. So I was happy to stop writing about privacy on social networks after the cyber-possession trilogy: the Facebook snatching government employers in Bozeman, the MySpace lurking managers of Houston's, and the Twitter brandjacking PR Firms. So imagine my double displeasure when I found out that the Florida Board of Bar Examiners decided to start demanding access to the Facebook accounts of red-flagged applicants. Damn it, FBBE. This is why we can't have nice things. According to floridabar.org, the FBBE rejected a requirement that all networking 'sites be listed and access granted to the board.' As evidenced in its final report, it seems that the FBBE realized that if all applicants knew their Facebook accounts would be rifled through, then applicants would 'likely . . . delete any derogatory material before staff has the opportunity to review it.' Wait, you are telling me that if everyone knows that a private site no longer protects privacy, then they might remove private information from that site? Genius! Someone get the Nobel committee on the phone. Instead, the FBBE adopted a policy of considering case-by-case Facebook hijacking. . . ."
Andrew Moshirnia, Florida Nukes the Fridge: Facebook, the Bar, and the Latest Entry in the Social Network Hijacking Saga [4]
"If you've spent any time in front of a television screen during the last year, you've seen the ads. Even Ed McMahon and MC Hammer got in on the act. Since 2007, the recession phenomena Cash4Gold has spurred a cottage industry of Internet-age pawnshops, poping up on television screens and in mall kiosks across the land. But increasingly, there have been rumblings that something is rotten in the state of Denmark. A quick Internet search will reveal dozens of complaints from unhappy Cash4Gold customers. ABC's Good Morning America even ran a segment about Cash4Gold's practice of lowballing offers, a practice Cash4Gold's CEO Jeff Aronson defended by arguing that Cash4Gold offers 'convenience,' not top-dollar trades. According to Aronson, 'If all you care about is the net dollar and you're willing to go to the seedy part of town and you're willing to travel around, I want you to go there, I don't want you to come to me. I want you to come to me for convenience and ease.' But an exposé of Cash4Gold's alleged business practices published nearly a year ago by a former Cash4Gold employee implied that there was more going on than just charging consumers an high service charge. You can probably guess what happened next. . . ."
Kimberley Isbell, All That Glitters Isn't Gold [5]
"As originally reported by Orin Kerr at The Volokh Conspiracy, a federal district judge in California issued an opinion on Friday overturning the jury verdict finding Lori Drew guilty of a misdemeanor violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). Judge Wu ruled that accepting the government's theory -- and the jury's finding -- that Drew violated the CFAA merely by intentionally violating MySpace's terms of use would render the statute unconstitutionally vague. As a result, he granted Drew's motion for a judgment of acquittal, ending the government's case against her. The judge previously announced in July that he planned on reversing the conviction. In the first part of his analysis, Judge Wu gave the CFAA's language a broad reading, finding that it could encompass the facts of Drew's case. The relevant provision of the CFAA prohibits 'intentionally access[ing] a computer without authorization or exceed[ing] authorized access' and thereby obtaining 'information' from a computer used in interstate commerce. . . . The court found that 'accessing' a computer simply means transmitting and receiving electronic signals from it, not working around code-based controls or gaining entry into non-public files or areas. Judge Wu thought a narrower approach might be 'preferable,' but found no support for this view in the case law or legislative history. . . . The court also held that, putting constitutional concerns aside, an intentional breach of website terms could constitute accessing a computer or server 'without authorization' or 'in excess of authorization.' . . . From there, the court turned to the constitutional question, noting that criminal statutes must give 'fair warning' to individuals of 'common intelligence' that the conduct in question is criminal. . . . The judge cited several reasons why the statute failed to provide sufficient notice that terms of use violations could be criminal. . . ."
Sam Bayard, Judge Issues Opinion Overturning Lori Drew's Conviction [6]
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