Internet & Computer Law Archives - Page 14 of 34

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (FEC): Supreme Court Ruling Is a Major Victory for New Media First Amendment Rights

The Digital Media Lawyer Blog: “In a victory for new media rights, the U.S. Supreme Court held today that the Government may not prohibit corporations from making independent expenditures on media in support of political causes. This opinion invalidated a federal statute, 2 U.S.C. §441b, that prohibited corporations — except those involved in traditional broadcast media — from making independent expenditures to publicly advocate the election or defeat of a Federal candidate 30 days before a primary or 60 days before a general election. Citizens United v. FEC, 558 U.S.____ (2010). This ruling is important for the multitudes of businesses (like my own) who make direct expenditures on political advocacy through blogs and other forms of interactive media.”

Lawsuit Aainst State Officials for Privacy Violation Moves Forward

Internet Cases: “Plaintiff sued the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and a number of state officials for violation of the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act, 18 USC §2721-25. Plaintiff claimed that the defendants turned over a large amount of protected personal information to a private party, and that that party then further disclosed the information to another entity that published the information on the web.”

The case is Welch v. Theodorides-Bustle, — F.Supp.2d —, 2010 WL 22365 (N.D. Fla., January 5, 2010).

Will Net Neutrality Stall-out?: Making Sense of the FCC’s Grab for Jurisdiction over the Internet

The Digital Media Lawyer Blog: “The Internet world has long been abuzz about the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) proposed new rules for net neutrality. The proposed rules, which were issued on October 22, 2009, would prohibit ISPs from discriminating against ‘lawful’ content, applications and service, subject to the needs of ‘reasonable network management.’ The promulgation of these new rules was speeded by the FCC’s 2008 actions against Comcast, which it accused of interfering with the transmission of BitTorrent files – a peer-to-peer file sharing protocol. As the basis for its actions against Comcast, as well as its proposed rulemaking, the FCC cited its longstanding agency policies to encourage the development of broadband and promote the open and interconnected nature of the Internet.”

Court Orders Anonymous GQ Blogger and Accused Hacker to be Identified

Internet Cases: “Someone accessing the Internet using an AT&T IP address hacked into Conde Nast’s computer system and acquired and published copies of editorial content and the images that were to be in the December 2009 issue of GQ. Those images were later published anonymously on a blog hosted by Google’s Blogger service. Conde Nast sued in federal court alleging copyright infringement (for the posting of the content) and violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (for the unauthorized accessing of the Conde Nast servers).”

The case is Advance Magazine Publishers v. Does 1-5, No. 09-10257 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 22, 2009).

Browsewrap Agreement Upheld by Missouri Court of Appeals

Digital Medai Lawyer Blog: “Online contracts typically fall into two categories: clickwrap and browsewrap agreements. In clickwrap agreements, a user expressly indicates his/her assent to a website’s terms of use by clicking on a button that says ‘I agree’ or ‘OK.’ In browsewrap agreements, a user does not expressly indicate his/her assent by clicking on a button, but ostensibly indicates his/her assent to the site’s terms of use in some other fashion – such as by submitting information or clicking other buttons. Courts routinely enforce clickwrap agreements.”

The case is Major v. McCallister, Missouri Court of Appeals, No. CD29871 (Dec. 23, 2009).

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