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Date: 12/18/2003
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Settled (total)
Type: Disciplinary Action
Jurisdiction: New Jersey
Publication: Website
For approximately a week in early April 2003, Ryan Dwyer, then an eighth grade student, maintained a website called "I Hate Maple Place" that included a forum. Dwyer, who hosted the site on his home computer, used the site to criticize his...
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Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 09/10/2007 - 3:59pm - 0 comments
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Date: 08/21/2007
Status: Pending
Disposition: Material Removed
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Illinois
Publication: Blog
Lawyers Burton Odelson and Mark Sterk sued the anonymous blogger behind the Proviso Insider, a blog focusing on politics in Proviso Township, Illinois. Odelson and Sterk allege defamation based on a July 2007 post suggesting that they might be indicted...
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Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 09/15/2008 - 1:42pm - 0 comments
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Date: 09/05/2007
Status: Pending
Disposition:
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Florida
Publication: Forum, Website
Odyssey Marine Exploration, a company involved in shipwreck salvaging, sued Jim McManus, a diver and a director of a UK-based historical website, for defamation in Florida state court. Odyssey contends that McManus defamed it in postings to its Yahoo! Finance message board...
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Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 09/17/2008 - 6:52pm - 0 comments
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Date: 06/30/2006
Status: Concluded
Disposition:
Type: Disciplinary Action
Jurisdiction: Pennsylvania
Publication: Blog
Linda Stengle was a special education due process hearing officer from July 1998 through June 2006, working for the Pennsylvania Office of Dispute Resolution on consecutive one-year contracts. In June 2006, her contract was not renewed because of her blogging activity. On...
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Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 08/18/2009 - 12:07pm - 0 comments
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Date: 02/15/2008
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Withdrawn
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Missouri
Publication: Forum, Website
Milton Ohlsen, who runs a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight promotion company, sued Joel S. Hollenbeck and Paul McElligott for defamation and tortious interference after they allegedly made false statements about him on the Internet.
According to the complaint, Hollenback...
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Legal Threat - Arthur Bright - 07/30/2008 - 4:38pm - 0 comments
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Date: 04/28/2006
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Dismissed (total)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Minnesota
Publication: Blog
Michael Brodkorb runs the blog, "Minnesota Democrats Exposted" (MDE), which is dedicated to discussing of the activities, statements, and tactics of Minnesota democrats. On December 28, 2005, MDE reported that Hubert Humphrey, a Senior Counselor for New Communications, Inc., a public relations...
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Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 09/10/2007 - 3:58pm - 0 comments
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Date: 03/01/2007
Status: Pending
Disposition: Injunction Denied, Injunction Issued
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Texas
Publication: Forum
OMDA Oil & Gas sued Arthur J. Porcari after he posted comments on private investor boards including the Yahoo! OMDA Investor Chat Board.
In June 2004, Porcari, a large stockholder of publicly traded shares in OMDA, told the Chairman of OMDA Adam...
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Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 10/25/2007 - 9:13am - 0 comments
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Date: 02/08/2005
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Dismissed (partial), Verdict (plaintiff)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Virginia
Publication: Website
Mummagraphics, Inc., run by anti-spam activist Mark Mumma, operated websites devoted to opposing spam messages. Mumma received a number of unsolicited emails from Cruise.com, a subsidiary of travel agency Omega World Travel, Inc. In early 2005, Mumma posted comments on one of...
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Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 09/10/2007 - 3:59pm - 0 comments
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Date: 09/15/2009
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Dismissed (total)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Oklahoma
Publication: Micro-blog
On September 15, 2009, natural gas distributor Oneok Inc. sued Twitter, Inc. in federal court in Oklahoma for direct and contributory trademark infringement. Oneok's claims were based on a third party's registration and use of the Twitter handle "Oneok" to send tweets...
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Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 08/20/2010 - 2:36pm - 0 comments
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Date: 04/07/2008
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Withdrawn
Type: Correspondence
Jurisdiction: California
Publication: Website
On April 7, 2008, the Legislative Counsel Committee of the State of Oregon sent a cease-and-desist letter to Justia, a free online resource for judicial decisions and statutes, claiming that Justia's posting of the...
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Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 04/17/2008 - 3:07pm - 0 comments
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Date: 07/01/2008
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Withdrawn
Type: Subpoena
Jurisdiction: Oregon
Publication: Website
Independent videographer Tim Lewis refused to comply with a Lane County, Oregon, grand jury subpoena for video he filmed of a May 30, 2008, incident where police tasered Ian Van Ornum, a student protester. Lewis argued that Oregon's reporter shield law, ...
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Legal Threat - Arthur Bright - 07/16/2008 - 7:59pm - 0 comments
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Date: 04/24/2008
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Material Removed, Retraction Issued, Settled (total), Verdict (plaintiff)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Texas
Publication: Website
In the course of an ongoing lawsuit, Orix Capital Markets, LLC filed a counterclaim against Super Future Equities, Inc., Schumann Rafizadeh, Cyrus Rafizadeh, Houman Thomas Arjmandi, and Keon Michael Arjmandi. The counterclaim alleged that the defendants set up a website -- www.predatorix.com...
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Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 04/22/2009 - 12:05pm - 0 comments
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Date: 02/25/2008
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Subpoena Enforced
Type: Subpoena
Jurisdiction: New York
Publication: Forum
Former House
Representative Richard Ottinger and his wife, June Ottinger, filed a John Doe lawsuit in New York state court and served a subpoena on The Journal News, a daily newspaper distributed in New York and Southern Connecticut...
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Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 06/30/2008 - 3:09pm - 0 comments
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Date: 09/04/2008
Status: Pending
Disposition: Dismissed (total)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: New York
Publication: Forum
Former House
Representative Richard Ottinger and his wife, June Ottinger, filed a John Doe lawsuit in New York state court over anonymous comments posted on a forum on LoHud.com. In a special proceeding for pre-action discovery, the court...
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Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 09/09/2009 - 3:48pm - 0 comments
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Date: 06/04/2012
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Dismissed (total)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Massachusetts
Publication: Website
The plaintiff owns the Plainridge Racecourse, a harness horse-racing track in Plainville, Massachusetts. Thomas Keen maintains the website "NoPlainvilleRacino" which opposes the development of a gaming facility in Plainville, Massachusetts.
On April 20, 2012, Ourway Realty d/b/a Plainridge Racecourse sent a ...
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Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 07/23/2013 - 11:40am - 0 comments
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Date: 06/25/2007
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Dismissed (total)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Kentucky
Publication: Email, Forum
Oxford Round Table, Inc. ("ORT"), a Kentucky corporation that conducts educational conferences at various colleges within Oxford University, sued Oxford lecturer Sloan Mahone for defamation and tortious interference in federal court in Kentucky. ORT claimed that Mahone posted defamatory statements on a...
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Legal Threat - Guest - 12/29/2008 - 10:48pm - 0 comments
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Date: 03/04/2009
Status: Pending
Disposition: Retraction Issued
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Oregon
Publication: Website
On March 4, 2009, Randall Palazzo, a custom home builder in Oregon, sued the Willamette Week, a local newspapaper that also publishes a website, for defamation. According to OregonLive, several editors and staffers, including Ian Gillingham, the paper's...
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Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 03/31/2009 - 1:11pm - 0 comments
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Date: 05/05/2009
Status:
Disposition: Material Removed
Type: Correspondence
Jurisdiction: Texas
Publication: Website
Sarah Palin, then Governor of Alaska, sent a cease and desist letter to Shoe Latif, a Houston-based DJ, who redirected traffic from her website crackho.com to Palin's official website. The cease and desist letter claimed that...
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Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 09/02/2009 - 11:57am - 0 comments
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Date: 07/04/2009
Status: Pending
Disposition:
Type: Correspondence
Jurisdiction: Alaska
Publication: Blog, Broadcast, Website
On July 4, 2009, an attorney for Alaska Governor Sarah Palin sent an open letter to Alaska blogger Shannyn Moore, the Huffington Post, MSNBC, the New York Times, The Washington Post, and other news organizations threatening to file...
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Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 07/05/2009 - 11:45am - 0 comments
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Date: 12/29/2009
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Settled (total)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Florida
Publication: Blog
Palm Coast Travel sued travel journalist Chris Elliott after he reported Elliott.org that Florida regulators had warned three travel insurance agencies, including Palm Coast, that offering policies from bankrupt Prime TravelProtection Services might violate state law. The complaint includes claims for...
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Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 03/30/2010 - 12:35pm - 0 comments