Posts tagged as:

privacy

February 5 roundup

by Walter Olson on February 5, 2011

  • Thomas Sowell on EPA dairy-spill regulations [NRO, earlier at Cato here and here] It’s the miracle federal agency: “What doesn’t the EPA do?” [ShopFloor]
  • President’s State of the Union medical malpractice gesture, cont’d [PoL, more, Ted Frank/Examiner, NJLRA, related, earlier here, here, here, here, here, here, here, etc.]
  • Fired minor-league Yankees mascot files wage-hour suit [ESPN]
  • Ohio sheriff prepares criminal complaint against reporter for asking him questions [WHIO via Balko]
  • It all happened so suddenly: Henry Waxman now disapproves of the use of subpoenas for fishing expeditions [Mark Tapscott, Examiner; earlier]
  • Should hospitals ban cameras from childbirth? [NYT "Room for Debate" with contribution from Jim Harper, Cato Institute]
  • Non-”flagrant” trespassing OK? Tort liability shift in Third Restatement [PoL]
  • Nope: “At this time, I would like to formally accuse Walter Olson of having an intern or something.” [Ron Miller]

It could send you to prison. [New York Times; Radley Balko] Related: Jim Harper, Cato.

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After a video went viral showing a distracted shopper walking into a mall fountain, it’s not clear that much of anyone would have known that the blurry figure was Ms. Marrero. They know now, though, as her lawyer talks about holding someone “responsible” for the less-than-professional reaction of security, which included laughing and not going up to her to confirm that she wasn’t hurt. [Mediaite, Balasubramani, Salon, Popehat, MSNBC "Technolog", Mystal]

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December 28 roundup

by Walter Olson on December 28, 2010

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December 13 roundup

by Walter Olson on December 13, 2010

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Pennsylvania: “The Lower Merion School District will pay $610,000 to settle lawsuits over its tracking of student laptop computers, ending an eight-month saga that thrust the elite district into a global spotlight and stirred questions about technology and privacy in schools.” Specifically, $175,000 will go to two students who sued, and $425,000 to their lawyer, while lawyers and computer specialists hired by the school in its defense have billed more than $1 million. “And the attorney for at least one other student has notified the district that he was contemplating a lawsuit.” [Philadelphia Inquirer, Balko, Kennerly]

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“…Call your lawyer first.” [WSJ via TaxProf]

August 12 roundup

by Walter Olson on August 12, 2010

  • “Father demands $7.5 million because school officials read daughter’s text message” [KDAF via CALA Houston]
  • How many different defendants can injured spectator sue in Shea Stadium broken-bat case? [Melprophet]
  • Prominent trial lawyer Russell Budd of Baron & Budd hosts Obama at Texas fundraiser [PoL]
  • DNA be damned: when actual nonpaternity doesn’t suffice to get out from under a child support order [Alkon, more]
  • “Sean Coffey, a plaintiffs’ lawyer-turned-candidate for New York Attorney General, made more than $150,000 in state-level campaign contributions nationwide over 10 years.” [WSJ Law Blog] “Days before announcing a shareholder lawsuit against Bank of America, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli accepted $14,000 in campaign donations from a law firm hired to help litigate the case.” [WSJ]
  • Big new RAND Corp. study on asbestos bankruptcy trusts may spur reform [Lloyd Dixon, Geoffrey McGovern & Amy Coombe, PDF, via Hartley, more, Daniel Fisher/Forbes, background here and here] Update: Stier.
  • Public contingency suits? Of course the elected officials are in control (wink, wink) [The Recorder via Cal Civil Justice]
  • Copyright enforcement mill appears to have copied its competitor’s website [TechDirt via Eric Goldman]

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They’re piling on now [Lammi, WLF] Earlier here, here.

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Declan McCullagh at CNet and Jim Harper at Cato warn about a proposed bill sponsored by Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) that could impose significant regulatory burdens and legal risks on many small businesses, websites and even individuals that gather information about customers or other persons. The bill is presently titled the “Building Effective Strategies To Promote Responsibility Accountability Choice Transparency Innovation Consumer Expectations and Safeguards Act, or BEST PRACTICES Act of 2010.”

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June 23 roundup

by Walter Olson on June 23, 2010

  • Judge blocks sweeping Obama administration ban on new offshore drilling [Roger Pilon, Cato] Some reasons judge may have found ban irrational [Lowry, NRO, scroll to reader comment; Gus Lubin, Business Insider] More on Jones Act waivers in the Gulf [Bainbridge, earlier]
  • Connecticut AG Blumenthal launches investigation of Google Street View [Rick Green, Courant]
  • Florida judge tosses out $10 million libel verdict against St. Petersburg Times [St. P.T.]
  • Lawyer in British Columbia suspends practice after bizarre jury tampering charges [CBC]
  • “Disclosed to death”: why laws mandating disclosure are so overused and overbroad [Falkenberg, Forbes on work of Omri Ben-Shahar and Carl E. Schneider, via PoL]
  • Judge dismisses controversial Pennsylvania case against Johnson & Johnson over Risperdal marketing, Gov. Rendell had hired major donor to run suit on contingency [LNL, McDonald/NJLRA, earlier]
  • Rick Hills vs. Ilya Somin on federalism and constitutional enforcement of property rights [Prawfsblawg, Volokh]
  • Beware proposed expansion of Federal Trade Commission powers [Wood, ShopFloor]

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Brandeis on privacy

by Walter Olson on June 14, 2010

The most overrated law review article in history? Or an instance of useful legal doctrine developed from imperfect origins? [Stewart Baker, Volokh]

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Jim Harper at Cato at Liberty says a proposed “Cyber Privacy Act” introduced by Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.) would “regulate every Internet site that has a comment section. He thinks it’s going to protect privacy, but he’s sorely mistaken. Its passage would undermine privacy and limit free speech.”

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Ohio: “A state court judge demands $50 million from the Cleveland Plain Dealer, claiming it wrongfully exposed her and her daughter as the source of online comments about the judge’s cases, including a criminal prosecution over the murder of 11 women. Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold and her daughter, Sydney, seek damages for fraud, defamation, tortious interference, breach of contract, and invasion of privacy. ” [Courthouse News, Solove/Concur Op] Earlier here.

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February 15 roundup

by Walter Olson on February 15, 2010

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Staying in touch with your doctor via IM? It’s more likely to happen in Mexico than here. Kevin MD quotes one doctor who “suspects that the demand that patients have to electronically talk to their doctors will force a change in privacy laws. We can only hope.”

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December 31 roundup

by Walter Olson on December 31, 2009

  • “Court to Plaintiffs: You Have Zero Forum Shopping Days until Xmas” [Jackson; New Yorker seeks to refile pharmaceutical case in Minnesota to overcome statute of limitations defense]
  • Miller-Jenkins battle: Mathew Staver of whimsically named Liberty Counsel won’t comment on whether client has kidnapped child in pursuit of continued defiance of court order [BTB, WSJ Law Blog, background]
  • “How many college football coaches have law degrees?” [Above the Law; Mike Leach vs. Texas Tech] More: Michael McCann, Sports Law; Carter Wood at Point of Law.
  • “Struck by a restaurant’s decor” good if it’s just a figure of speech, bad if it’s falling taxidermy [Lowering the Bar]
  • Trial lawyer message in support of med-mal litigation falls on some credulous ears in media [White Coat]
  • On airport whole-body imaging, some privacy advocates seem to have changed tune [Stewart Baker]
  • “Litigant Guru of Gwinnett, Georgia Loses Lawsuit” [sanctioned over defamation claim; Bad Lawyer via AtL]
  • Step right up and win cash for your vote in the ABA’s blogospheric beauty pageant [Scott Greenfield] Update: contest wraps up [Legal Blog Watch]

Bloomberg reports that the trial in Italy is going forward

on charges related to a clip uploaded to Google Video in 2006.

The clip was created and posted on the Web by a group of students at a Turin school, who filmed themselves bullying a disabled classmate. Google says that it removed the video as soon as it was notified and that it helped Italian police identify those responsible. The trial has been closed to the media at Google’s request.

“Seeking to hold neutral platforms liable for content posted on them is a direct attack on a free, open Internet,” Google spokesman William Echikson said in June.

More: AP.

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