Legal Decisions

Judge Grants Super Broad Sony Subpoena Unmasking Twitter/YouTube/Google Visitors

by Joshua Auriemma March 6, 2011 Legal Decisions

The parties in Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC v. Hotz, et al. apparently came to an unfortunately overbroad ESI agreement, before the Electronic Frontier Foundation managed to send off a letter in opposition to the judge, whereby Twitter, YouTube, Bluehost, and Google have been compelled by a N.D. Cal. magistrate judge to turn over data relating to [...]

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Holden Caulfield, Gay Superheroes, and the Death of The Author

by Sean McGilvray July 13, 2009 Legal Analysis

Two recent developments have raised questions about the amount of control an author has over his characters once they leave the womb of his or her creative imagination and enter the collective consciousness. There’s a fine line between the public awareness and the public domain, and just because a character has embedded itself in the [...]

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Hentai, Avatars, and the First Amendment

by Sean McGilvray June 22, 2009 Legal Decisions

In Jacobellis v. Ohio, Justice Potter Stewart gave the world the most highly quoted definition of obscenity ever to come from the bench when he said “I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly [...]

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Appeals Court Says: No Webcasting in Massachusetts Federal Court

by Joshua Auriemma April 16, 2009 Legal Decisions

In re Sony BMG Music Entertainment: The 1st Circuit recently wrote an opinion interpreting a Massachusetts local rule to exclude webcasts of federal court proceedings except in certain enumerated circumstances.  In overturning the lower court’s allowance of a trial webcast, the Circuit Court interpreted the language of Local Rule 83.3 of the United States District [...]

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First Amendment CAN Trump Anonymous Libel After All

by Joshua Auriemma March 2, 2009 Legal Decisions

Ars Technica published a story today exploring a recent Maryland Court of Appeals decision calling for a First Amendment inquiry before compelling websites to turn over the information of anonymous posters accused of libel. Apparently, the anonymous posters won on a minor technicality (they didn’t actually make the posts that they were acused of making).  [...]

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Judge: “You’re Too Fat For Jail”

by Joshua Auriemma January 13, 2009 Legal Decisions

Here’s some interesting reading from our legal brothers in the UK. The defendant, Peter Owens, weighs 40 stone (560 lbs) and was convicted of attacking two men with a baseball bat.  Upon reviewing the case, the judge concluded that Mr. Owens was too unhealthy to serve four years in prison.   Citing concerns for Mr. Owens’ [...]

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