Technically Legal

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

Sorry for the repeats and the mistakes with this week’s podcast. This should be all fixed now.

Google WebM v. H.264, Twitter Subpoena, and MySpace Authentication

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Google WebM, Royalty Free, but Patent Suit Free?

Google’s WebM video format might not be so free after all, says MPEG-LA
The first in-depth technical analysis of VP8

PA Atty. Gen. Sends Twitter a Subpoena

Pennsylvania Attorney General Tries to Unmask Twitter Critics
Pennsylvania AG Dropping Twitter Subpoena

MySpace Authentication Evidence

Opinions

Comments Off Posted in: Podcast on May 25, 2010

In a case released today, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicical Court, the highest court in the Commonwealth, held that MySpace messages, sent from the account of a criminal defendant’s brother, were not admissible against him because they were not properly authenticated. To view the opinion, click here, then on “Opinions” under the Supreme Judicial Court headline. Finally, click on “Commonwealth v. Williams.” This will be made easier this afternoon.

The defendant’s brother sent a potential witness four messages urging her not to testify against the defendant. The Court said the messages should have been excluded because they were not authenticated, in other words, the jury had no way of knowing who wrote them.

The Court analogized it to authenticating a phone call. It is not enough to merely state that the witness recieved a phone call from a person. The witness must testify that they were familiar with the person’s voice, and that the voice on the other end of the line was consistent with the person’s voice.

Here, neither the witness, nor anyone else, testified to how secure MySpace is, and whether someone else could have sent the messages.

Ultimately, the Court held that the error of allowing the messages into evidence did not require a reversal of convictions.

Comments Off Posted in: Analysis on May 21, 2010

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