Technically Legal

Episode 60: Thesis, Introduction, Conclusion

Thesis v. WordPress and the GPL, Massachusetts and the Right to Repair, Facebook and the CFAA.

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1 Comment Posted in: Podcast on July 26, 2010

Episode 56: Hotel California

Google and YouTube win First Round, Congress Can Take Works out of the Public Domain, Apple Sharing Location Data

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Google, YouTube Win First Round Against Viacom

The Opinon

Congress Can Take Works Out of Public Domain

Terrible News: Court Says It’s Okay To Remove Content From The Public Domain And Put It Back Under Copyright
The Opinion

Apple Sharing iPhone Location Data

Apple Now Storing and Sharing Your Location With Others
Congressmen Ask Apple To Explain Privacy Policy Changes
Lawmakers To Introduce New Internet Privacy Bill

Comments Off Posted in: Podcast on June 28, 2010

The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals reheard two cases en banc, on June 3rd. The two cases, both of which dealt with students making fake profiles of their principals on MySpace, were covered in Podcast 36, back in February. The Court of Appeals had come to opposite results in the cases, and the full court agreed to rehear them.

It will probably be a few months before the court issues new opinions, but we will report on the new opinions when they are released.

Comments Off Posted in: Links on June 4, 2010

Episode 48: Rated M for Mature

SCOTUS to consider legality of CA restrictions of video game sales to minors, Sony Class Action over disabling Linux on PS3s, and statutory damages for record sales.

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SCOTUS considers CA Video Game Law

Supreme Court Will Hear California Video Game Statute Appeal
9th Circuit Opinion

Sony Class Action

PS3 Linux class action lawsuit coming at ya
The Complaint

1 Statutory Damage Award Per Record

Record Album Only Supports One Statutory Damages Award–Bryant v. Media Right
The Opinion
April 2009 Quick Links

2 Comments Posted in: Podcast on May 3, 2010

Google Search Broken in China

After just discussing the Google/China spat on our last podcast, this story emerged today.

According to several media stories, Google search results were unavailable on their Chinese website as of today. Apparently, users could access the Google search page, but were unable to yield results when attempting to search. This news comes just a week after Google began redirecting their http://google.cn site to their Hong Kong servers at http://google.hk where censorship restrictions are more lax.

Some reports were that China had begun blocking the GOOG through the Great Firewall. However, it now appears that an internalized error was the cause of the problem. Somehow an errant text string was inserting itself into the URL of search result pages and caused the search engine to display an error.

For the most current info on the effects of the larger dispute between Google and China dispute, Google has a website which is tracking the status of their online services in mainland China: http://www.google.com/prc/report.html

Comments Off Posted in: Links on March 30, 2010

Sexting Injunction Upheld

We covered the first threatened sexting prosecutions, nearly a year ago. The principal case was a Pennsylvannia DA threating to prosecute teen-aged girls for sending provocative, though not pornographic, photos of themselves to friends, via MMS. (Side note: What’s up with Pennsylvannia and students rights? First this, then the MySpace punishments, and most recently, spying on their students).

The district court stopped the DA from prosecuting the students, saying that it probably wasn’t illegal for girls to take and distribute provocative, or even nude pictures of themselves. Child pornography laws are based on the fact that minors are victimized, and it is difficult to victimize yourself.

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the injunction, but on different grounds. The Court of Appeals thought that the ultimatum the DA gave, which was that the students had to participate in an “education program,” or face prosecution, was unconstitutional.

There were two problems. First, the program interfered with parents rights to raise their kids, as the DA was dictating to the children what he thought was appropriate, not what was legal or illegal. Second, the program required the students to write essays about what they did, and why it was wrong. That violates the First Amendment’s prohibition against compelled speech.

This doesn’t resolve many key issues about sexting, but it did stop the DA from ruining several young girls lives with frivolous felony prosecutions.

Comments Off Posted in: Analysis on March 18, 2010

Episode 36: Still Not About the iPad

Amazon Wrap Up, iPad Trademark Dispute, Out-Of-School Speech, New Rules for Juries

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iPad Trademark Dispute

FUJITSU’s iPAD
Fujitsu’s Leaked iPad Memo
Will the iPad soon have a new name?
MAGTEKs iPad
STMicroelectronics iPad
Apple’s Trademark Application

Students Punished, or not, for Out of School Speech

Snyder v. Blue Mountain School District
Synder Opinion
Layshock v. Hermitage School District, Opinion

New Rules for Juries

Juror Use of Electronic Communication Technology
Courts move to ban juror use of Blackberry, iPhone, Twitter and Facebook

Comments Off Posted in: Podcast on February 8, 2010

Stunningly Good Net Neutrality Post

Marvin Ammori from Balkinization put up an incredible post about Net Neutrality including the legal arguments for and against it. It’s a must-read.

Comments Off Posted in: Links on December 10, 2009

Episode 24: A Bushel of Claims

School Punishes students for MySpace postings, Above The Law Suit Dropped, EMI sues to get Beatles songs of the web.

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A couple of notes this week: We’re trying out funnier titles. Do you like that? Second: David Lu was calling from what sounded like inside a small box.

School Sued Over Punishment

School sued for punishing teens over MySpace pix
The complaint

Above the Law Suit Dropped

Law Professor Sues Over ‘Above the Law’ Blog Posts–Jones v. Minkin
That Was Fast! Above The Law Lawsuit Dismissed

EMI Sues Over Beatles Songs on the Web

Bizarre legal defense after EMI sues over Beatles MP3 sales
Judge hits Beatles MP3 seller with restraining order

Comments Off Posted in: Podcast on November 9, 2009