Would televising U.S. Supreme Court proceedings promote transparency in the country's highest legal institution and help generate public confidence in the judiciary, or would putting the court's oral arguments on TV or the Internet demean the institution? These and other questions were raised in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing this…
Justia Law Blog
A Brooklyn jury acquitted a man accused of gun possession charges after his criminal defense lawyers discovered a treasure trove of derogatory, racist digital evidence on a Facebook group created by NYPD officers. According to the New York Times, police officers who did not want to work at New York…
Carrier IQ, a mobile phone software and data analytics company that gives telecoms business intelligence on connections, dropped calls and user behavior was hit with at least eleven consumer class-action lawsuits alleging privacy and Federal Wiretap Act violations. The lawsuits accuse the telecom software analystics company of variously recording Android…
Last week a New York trial judge denied a defense discovery request for a personal injury plaintiff's current and historical Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter account information. New York Justice George J. Silver of State Supreme Court in Manhattan reasoned that simply making conclusory allegations that a party's "Facebook account is…
Now that November is in the rear-view mirror, it is time to start planning for the upcoming holiday season. If you are having problems coming up with the perfect gift for your family members or friends, consider the plight of those who have to buy gifts for the man who…
Going to the dentist can be an unnerving experience. It can also feel like you're getting more than a tooth pulled if you're asked to give up any rights to critique the dental work you've had done, and assign all copyrights to any comments you make about it to…the dentist.…
Writ columnists Vik Amar and Alan Brownstein recently wrote an interesting article on the latest ruling in the litigation regarding Proposition 8, California’s anti-gay-marriage initiative. Using the process known as certification, the Ninth Circuit, in trying to figure out if the the proponents of Prop. 8 had standing…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit will hear arguments next year over the dismissal of a class-action by Facebook users who claimed they were hurt when Facebook promoted its "Friend Finder" by displaying their profile information. A briefing schedule is now listed on the court's case docket.…
There's a bitter legal feud in the Wild Yonder out West. The trademark fighter pilot litigators at two telecoms are fueling their IP jets, checking their legal payloads, and heading for a showdown over the clear blue skies of eastern California and northern Nevada. Carlsbad, California-based ViaSat®, owner of Yonder…
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission ('FTC') announced that it reached a tentative settlement with Facebook over charges that the social media company engaged in deceptive privacy practices with consumers. But will the proposed settlement (you can read it below) really protect users in an era when tech privacy law is…