Balough
December 15, 2013
There is no reasonable expectation of privacy for the content in files stored in a computer linked to an unsecured Wi-Fi connection, even if the access to the network is not authorized. An Oregon federal court denied a motion to suppress evidence found on a convicted sex offender’s computer. A neighbor of the defendant used […]
Balough
December 15, 2013
Electronic Arts, Inc.’s use of likenesses of former NCAA football players in NCAA Football are too close to the real athletes to be protected by the First Amendment, a California federal court found. A former NCAA quarterback brought a case against the NCAA and Electronic Arts (EA) alleging that, by incorporating his likeness into video […]
Balough
December 15, 2013
A Pennsylvania couple’s battle with Google’s street view function remains barely alive thanks to a U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling that there was a technical trespass when the images were taken. Aaron and Christine Boring originally sued Google for various counts of invasion of privacy, unjust enrichment, and trespass. Google had taken images of the […]
Balough
December 15, 2013
A Cook County judge ruled that a tweet by a tenant was not defamatory as a matter of law. Judge Diane Larsen found that the tweet, “who said sleeping in a moldy apartment was bad for you? Horizon realty thinks it’s okay,” was susceptible of innocent construction and not defamatory per se as a matter […]
Balough
December 15, 2013
The subjects of defamatory statements cannot force Ripoff.com to remove the posts from the website. A federal judge found that the Communications Decency Act (CDA) limits the ability of an aggrieved party to sue an internet host for defamatory statements posted on its website by third parties. The plaintiffs in the case attempted to circumvent […]
Balough
December 15, 2013
In response to open records requests, governmental agencies must turn over the metadata associated with public documents kept in electronic form, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled. The issue arose after the City of Phoenix refused to turn over the metadata of the performance reports of a police officer. The police officer believed that the notes were […]
Balough
December 14, 2013
While teachers do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their classrooms under federal law, school districts in Illinois cannot audio tape what teachers say in the classrooms, an Illinois appellate court found. The Board of Education for Freeport School District No. 145 sought to audio and videotape teachers in two special education classrooms […]
Balough
December 14, 2013
There are no ands, ifs, or butts. The North Face Apparel Corp. wants to protect its trademark. The owner of the registered trademark for The North Face that sells outdoor adventure equipment and apparel has sued The South Butt LLC for trademark infringement and unfair competition. The South Butt manufactures and sells jackets and T-shirts and […]
Balough
December 14, 2013
A village trustee can obtain the name of an anonymous internet poster who allegedly posted defamatory statements about her son during a contested election campaign. The poster, Hipcheck 16, made the posts on a website of a local newspaper during Buffalo Grove trustee Lisa Stone’s election campaign. The trustee sought the name of the poster […]
Balough
December 14, 2013
There are no First Amendment rights in the virtual world, at least not in Sony’s Playstation 3 Network. Plaintiff was barred from the Playstation virtual world for violations of the user agreement for the Network, including posts on its public forums. He sued Sony claiming that his First Amendment free speech rights were violated by […]
