Overlawyered » MySpace

May 3 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 03 May 2010 11:15:12 +0000

Lawmakers in Georgia vote for bill to forbid forced micro-chipping after listening respectfully to “this happened to me” story [Popehat]
“Why does the Wall Street regulation overhaul give FTC authority over the Internet?” [Morrissey and WaPo via Gillespie]
“Woman alleges termination due to gender, not sleeping on the job” [SE Texas Record]
Writers’ Union of Canada surprisingly unfriendly toward writers’ freedom regarding fair use/fair dealing [BoingBoing]
Despite purported bar on strategic use, Senate bill to stay deportation of illegal aliens while workplace claims are pending would create incentive to come up with such claims [Fox, Employer's Lawyer]
“California Magistrate Scoffs at Plaintiff’s MySpace Page, But Awards Damages Anyway” [Abnormal Use]
State of free speech in Britain: police confront man over political sign in window of his home, arrest preacher over anti-gay remarks [Mail and more, Telegraph via Steyn, related from Andrew Sullivan and MWW]
“Should Tort Law Be Tougher on Lawyers?” [Alex Long, TortsProf]

Tags: Canada, copyright, Federal Trade Commission, free speech, Georgia, MySpace

Open MySpace invitation to house party did not make assault “reasonably foreseeable”

Walter Olson — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:42:50 +0000

A California appeals court has declined plaintiffs’ invitation to hold that “a public invitation posted on MySpace to a free party offering music and alcohol was substantially certain to result in an injury to someone.” Three men were “allegedly attacked by a group of unknown individuals as they arrived at the party,” which was thrown by a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and announced on the social media site. [OnPoint News]

Tags: California, MySpace, social host, third party liability for crime

“Jury convicts mom of lesser charges in online hoax”

Walter Olson — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 03:10:33 +0000

“A Missouri mother on trial in a landmark cyberbullying case was convicted Wednesday of only three minor offenses for her role in a mean-spirited Internet hoax that apparently drove a 13-year-old girl to suicide.” Numerous critics had assailed the prosecution of Lori Drew as based on overbroad criminalization; we covered the controversy here, here, and here. (Greg Risling, AP/Buffalo News, Nov. 26).

Tags: bullying, Missouri, MySpace, suicide

Nowhere to hide

Walter Olson — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 18:59:28 +0000

When your litigation opponent subpoenas your Facebook, Amazon, MySpace, Flickr, LinkedIn and (locked) Twitter pages (& Likelihood of Confusion).

Tags: discovery, Facebook, lawyering vs. privacy, MySpace, social networking, Twitter

September 29 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:08:37 +0000

Watch where you click: “Kentucky (secretly) commandeers world’s most popular gambling sites” [The Register/OUT-LAW]
Erin Brockovich enlists as pitchwoman for NYC tort firm Weitz & Luxenberg [PoL roundup]
U.K.: “Millionaire Claims Ghosts Caused Him to Flee His Mortgage, I Mean Mansion” [Lowering the Bar]
Prosecution of Lori Drew (MySpace imposture followed by victim’s suicide) a “case study in overcriminalization” [Andrew Grossman, Heritage; earlier; some other resources on overcriminalization here, here, and here]
Exonerated Marine plans to sue Rep. John Murtha for defamation [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]
Snooping on jurors’ online profiles? “Everything is fair game” since “this is war”, says one jury consultant [L.A. Times; earlier]
Allentown, Pa. attorney John Karoly, known for police-brutality suits, indicted on charges of forging will to obtain large chunk of his brother’s estate; “Charged with the same offenses are J.P. Karoly, 28, who is John Karoly’s son, and John J. Shane, 72, who has served as an expert medical witness in some of John Karoly’s cases.” [Express-Times, AP, Legal Intelligencer]
School safety: “What do the teachers think they might do with the Hula-Hoop, choke on it?” [Betsy Hart, Chicago Sun-Times/Common Good]

Tags: Erin Brockovich, gambling, jury selection, Kentucky, lawyering vs. privacy, libel slander and defamation, MySpace, Pennsylvania, schools, wills and trusts

Judge reluctant to dismiss MySpace suicide case

Walter Olson — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 01:08:23 +0000

“The use of the anti-hacking law to charge [Lori] Drew [in a notorious case of identity-hoax cruelty whose target committed suicide] was criticized by experts who said it set a dangerous precedent that could potentially make a felon out of anyone who violated the terms of service of any website — a prospect that is particularly troubling, they said, because terms-of-service agreements sometimes contain onerous provisions, are often arbitrarily and unilaterally changed by companies, and are rarely read by users.” (Kim Zetter, Wired News, Sept. 5). Earlier: May 16.

Tags: MySpace, online speech

Doe v. MySpace lawsuit dismissal affirmed

Ted Frank — Tue, 20 May 2008 02:48:57 +0000

In May 2006, 14-year-old Texas girl “Julie Doe” listed herself as 18 on her MySpace profile (so she could circumvent the site’s child safety features) and snuck out of her house to surreptitiously meet with a boy she met on MySpace the previous month. Unfortunately for her, the boy was also lying; Pete Solis was not a high-school athlete, but a 19-year-old that (allegedly) raped her. (Solis claims the sex was consensual and that he didn’t know about the illegal age difference, though knowledge ususally isn’t a defense in statutory rape cases.)

The family blamed MySpace and sued in multiple jurisdictions, omitting Solis from the most recent iteration of the suit. The suit was dismissed under the website hosting immunity protections of the Communications Decency Act; and Friday, the dismissal was affirmed by a unanimous panel of the Fifth Circuit (via Childs). We covered the suit in detail in 2006; for that, and other MySpace litigation, see our MySpace tag.

In April, Solis pleaded guilty to reduced charges of felony injury to a child, and will serve 90 days over the course of five years, and will register as a sex offender. (Jen Biundo, “Buda teen gets 90 days in jail, seven years on sex offender list”, The Free Press (Buda), April 23). His attorney? Adam Reposa, known for other reasons. One presume’s Solis’s even more ludicrous lawsuit against MySpace has met a similar fate.

Tags: Communications Decency Act, deep pocket, forum shopping, MySpace, technology, third party liability for crime

May 16 roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 16 May 2008 14:19:29 +0000

Polar bears on parade: “Lawsuits are not the best way to force the public into solving planet-size problems such as climate change.” [Christian Science Monitor editorial]
Jury convicts private investigator Anthony Pellicano, trial of entertainment lawyer Terry Christiansen set for July [Variety; earlier]
Knockoff sneakers differed from Adidas original in having two or four stripes instead of three, didn’t save Payless Shoes from getting hit with $304 million verdict [American Lawyer]
Following up on our discussion of municipal tree liability: Michigan high court OKs homeowner class action over sewer line damage from city trees [AP/MLive]
Attorney Franklin Azar, of Colorado TV-ad fame, says jury’s verdict ordering him to pay a former client $145,000 was really a “big victory” for him [ABA Journal]
Annals of tolling-for-infancy: “Dog bite 10 years ago subject of civil suit” [MC Record]
Feds indict Missouri woman for cruel MySpace hoax that drove victim to suicide: Orin Kerr finds legal grounds weak [@ Volokh]
“I blame R. Kelly for Sept. 11″: some ways potential jurors managed to get off singer’s high-profile Chicago trial [Tribune; h/t reader A.K.]
Update: “click fraud” class actions filed in Texarkana against online ad providers have all now settled [SE Texas Record; earlier]
Judge orders dad to stay on top of his daughter’s education, then jails him for 180 days when she fails to get her general equivalency diploma [WCPO, Cincinnati; update, father released]
Lawyers still soliciting for AOL volunteer class actions [Colossus of Rhodey; earlier]

Tags: Anthony Pellicano, AOL, Arkansas, Cincinnati, click fraud, climate change, Colorado, fathers, global warming, jury selection, Michigan, Missouri, MySpace, roundups, Texas, tolling, trees

February 23 roundup

Ted Frank — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 10:15:09 +0000

Easterbrook: “One who misuses litigation to obtain money to which he is not entitled is hardly in a position to insist that the court now proceed to address his legitimate claims, if any there are…. Plaintiffs have behaved like a pack of weasels and can’t expect any part of their tale be believed.” [Ridge Chrysler v. Daimler Chrysler via Decision of the Day]
Retail stores and their lawyers find sending scare letters with implausible threats of litigation against accused shoplifters mildly profitable. [WSJ]
Kentucky exploring ways to reform mass-tort litigation in wake of fen-phen scandal. [Mass Tort Prof; Torts Prof; AP/Herald-Dispatch; earlier: Frank @ American]
After Posner opinion, expert should be looking for other lines of work. [Kirkendall; Emerald Investments v. Allmerica Financial Life Insurance & Annuity]
Judge reduces jury verdict in Premarin & Prempro case to “only” $58 million. And I still haven’t seen anyone explain why it makes sense for a judge to decide damages awards were “the result of passion and prejudice,” but uphold a liability finding from the same impassioned and prejudiced jury. Wyeth will appeal. [W$J via Burch; AP/Business Week]
Judge lets lawyers get to private MySpace and Facebook postings. [OnPoint; also Feb. 19]
Nanny staters’ implausible case for regulating salt. [Sara Wexler @ American; earlier: Nov. 2002]
Doctor: usually it’s cheaper to pay than to go to court. [GNIF BrainBlogger]
Trial lawyers in Colorado move to eviscerate non-economic damages cap in malpractice cases [Rocky Mountain News]
Bonin: don’t regulate free speech on the Internet in the name of “campaign finance” [Philadelphia Inquirer]
“Executives face greater risks—but investors are no safer.” [City Journal]
Professors discuss adverse ripple effects from law school affirmative action without mentioning affirmative action. Paging Richard Sander. Note also the absence of “disparate impact” from the discussion. [PrawfsBlawg; Blackprof]
ATL commenters debate my American piece on Edwards. [Above the Law]

Tags: campaign regulation, Chrysler, Colorado, Facebook, fen-phen, Frank Easterbrook, free speech, Kentucky, Kentucky fen-phen settlement fraud, legal extortion, MySpace, nanny state, nastygrams, online speech, Philadelphia, racial preferences, remittitur, Richard Posner, salt, Wyeth

Lawyer for families: MySpace “no different” from day-care center

Walter Olson — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 00:08:28 +0000

Paul McNamara, at NetworkWorld, takes exception, calling the Houston lawyer’s pronouncement a “steaming pile of flapdoodle” (Jan. 19; Joe Garofoli, “Families of sexually abused girls sue MySpace, alleging negligence”, San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 19)(earlier).

Tags: child protection, deep pocket, Houston, MySpace, online speech, third party liability for crime

Overlawyered » MySpace

May 3 roundup

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