Tag Archives: First Amendment
Court Orders Customer to Stop Yelping
A Virginia judge has issued an injunction ordering a woman to stop posting critical reviews on websites Yelp and Angie’s List regarding a contractor’s work on her home. The customer, Jane Perez, allegedly failed to pay the company, Dietz Development, … Continue reading
Posted in Defamation, First Amendment
Tagged Angie's List, Dietz, First Amendment, Perez, prior restraint, Virginia, Yelp
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Lawsuit: Smartphone and Memory Card Seized from Man Recording Police
A Washington D.C. man has sued two police officers for seizing his smartphone with which he photographed a police officer engaging in allegedly “aggressive conduct toward members of the public” after another officer hit a man on a motorbike with … Continue reading
Posted in Blogging, First Amendment
Tagged ACLU, First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, law enforcement, memory card, photograph, police, smartphone, Social Media, Staley, Washington D.C.
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New Illinois Laws Affect Online Privacy
Recently enacted Illinois laws are intended to protect the online privacy of both public and private employees in the state. The Judicial Privacy Improvement Act (JPIA) is a legislative response to the 2005 shootings of relatives of a federal judge … Continue reading
Plug or Perish
Entrepreneur Magazine’s Daily Dose recently spoke with Damon Dunn about two recent cases on First Amendment protection for public employees’ Facebook “likes”. We previously discussed the cases here. Should a “Like” be protected as freedom of speech? Damon E. Dunn, … Continue reading
Posted in Employment, First Amendment
Tagged Bland, Damon Dunn, Facebook, First Amendment, FVLD, NLRB, TerVeer
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Public Employees Sue After Being Fired for Facebook “Likes”
A federal judge in Virginia recently held that “liking” a Facebook post is not sufficiently expressive to warrant First Amendment protection. One of the plaintiffs in Bobby Bland et al. v. B.J. Roberts alleged he lost his job with a … Continue reading
Toll of “Facebook Victims” Mounts
Although social media is no longer a new phenomenon, evidently even people who should know better still have not grasped that nothing on the Internet is confidential. What’s more, there is no sure demarcation between private postings and those that … Continue reading
Posted in Employment, First Amendment
Tagged Chaney, Cicero, Colombia, Employment Law, Facebook, First Amendment, GSA, Iniquez, Morton, Neely, NLRB, policies, Social Media
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Judge: No Privilege for Tech Blogger
A Chicago judge ruled that a technology blogger was not protected by the Illinois reporters’ privilege law and must disclose the anonymous source of allegedly confidential photos he published of an unreleased smartphone. Judge Panter held that the website, TechnoBuffalo, … Continue reading
Another Teacher Disciplined for Facebook Posts
A first grade teacher in Paterson, New Jersey who described herself online as “a warden for future criminals” should be fired, according to an administrative law judge. The state’s education commissioner will decide whether to accept the ALJ’s non-binding ruling. … Continue reading
Posted in Blogging, Employment, First Amendment
Tagged Facebook, First Amendment, Jennifer O'Brien, Natalie Munroe, teacher, Warden
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Could Book Privacy Law Apply to Blogs?
MediaPost spoke to several law professors regarding whether California’s new Reader Privacy Act, a law barring online book services from disclosing reader information to authorities absent a court order, could apply to bloggers. We tend to agree that such application … Continue reading
Posted in Anonymity, Discovery, First Amendment, Privacy
Tagged Anonymity, blogs, California, e-books, First Amendment, online books, Reader Privacy Act, Subpoenas
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Actress Sues IMDb for Revealing Age
An anonymous actress has sued Amazon and its subsidiary film site, IMDb.com, claiming they used her credit card information to obtain and publish her age (she is about 40). She claims she suffered a “double-whammy” because filmmakers won’t let her … Continue reading
Posted in Advertising, Employment, Privacy
Tagged Actress, Amazon, consumer protection, First Amendment, Fraud, IMDb, Jane Doe v. Amazon.com, Privacy, Washington
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Report: Digital Feuds Pervade Small-Town Gossip Sites
The New York Times reports that anonymous gossip sites are leading to modern day Hatfield and McCoy feuds across rural America. The story focuses on the site Topix, a local news and discussion site which reportedly is morphing into a … Continue reading
Cyber-stalking Suit Against Toyota to Proceed
A California appellate court allowed a woman to sue Toyota and its advertising firm for a social media oriented “ad campaign” titled “The Other You” in which Toyota allegedly e-personated a British fugitive headed to her house, with his pit … Continue reading
Posted in Advertising, First Amendment, Fraud
Tagged Amber Duick, Cyber-stalking, E-Personation, First Amendment, Harassment, Matrix, MySpace, prank, Privacy, Saatchi, The Other You, Toyota
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Courts Mull Identifying Anonymous Commenters
Two recent cases deal with the protection of website commenters’ identities, one in a traditional media context and the other dealing with pseudonymous Tweets sought by a grand jury. In re: Indiana Newspapers Inc. involved a comment to a story … Continue reading →