Author Archives: Internet Lawyer

CALEA Expansion Could Mean Increased FBI Wiretapping Breadth

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Internet Lawyer
Public protest against proposed new Internet laws, like the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and The Protect IP Act (PIPA), has plagued the past twelve months. But according to CNet.com, it looks like a highly controversial amendment to the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) — which seeks to extend the FBI’s electronic wiretapping abilities — is quietly being passed around hallowed government halls. The Department of Justice has already approved the amendment, and word on the street is that high-level meetings between officials and tech companies are being planned to discuss next steps and potential problem points. The crux of the proposal addresses the FBI’s fear of “going dark” – a term used in the Bureau for not being able to legally monitor electronic information, which, officials aver, weakens our country’s ability to identify and thwart national security ...
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Michigan Internet Cafes Shut Down for Illegal Gambling

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Internet Lawyer
online gambling
Forget the rough economy, if you believe reports, Illegal Internet cafes are Michigan’s current scourge. That’s right, according to Michigan officials, many seemingly innocent WiFi-friendly “tech-eries” offer illegal services – and as of May 3, 2012, eight Internet cafes in Grand Rapids, Saginaw, Lansing and Flint were shut down indefinitely after receiving state-issued cease and desist orders. You Ain’t No Stinking Internet Café, You’re An Illegal Gambling “Pop Up” Casino According to authorities, the targeted establishments are not ordinary Internet cafes that only offered basic web surfing. Oh no, the naughty establishments allegedly lured customers with a chance to win cash or a free sweepstakes entry. Michigan’s Attorney General, Bill Schuette, says that the cafes are unregulated “pop-up” casinos. The state’s main issue and legal stance is that these businesses are offering customers a chance to win cash rewards, but ...
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Another Illegal Downloading (a.k.a. Copyright Troll) Lawsuit Shattered By Judge

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Internet Lawyer
illegal downloading
Four porn studios who sued unknown or anonymous John Doe defendants for copyright infringement recently saw their case suffer a serious setback. New York Magistrate Judge Gary R. Brown found the studios to be engaged in abusive litigation tactics. Brown severely limited their discovery requests for detailed personal subscriber identifying information from Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Brown also found the studios had improperly joined defendants in an effort to avoid the costs of filing individual lawsuits. He ordered that all but one John Doe be dismissed from each case. One studio’s entire case was dismissed when it admitted that it did not own a copyright on the downloaded films. It Started Like Nearly Every Other Copyright Troll Lawsuit The plaintiffs claimed their copyrights were infringed when the John Does downloaded the studios’ copyrighted films using BitTorrent technology. The studios sought ...
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Gov’t Seized Website Dajaz1.com Without Evidence

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Internet Lawyer
domain seizure legalities
Court documents show that the US government held the popular website Dajaz1.com for more than 13 months. This is in spite of no evidence of wrongdoing or copyright infringement. The federal authorities have recently released documents that relate to the government seizure of hip-hop site Dajaz1.com. The documents shed light on the issue and show that the website’s seizure was actually extended for several months because the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) was unable to provide information about the alleged copyright infringements. There have been no charges brought against Dajaz1.com, and the website has just recently been allowed to return to the Internet. The documents regarding the case have just been released. They were held secretly for more than six months, but the documents were released after a number of public interest agencies requested the papers. Several firms requested ...
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A Vodka Online Defamation Case with a Twist

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Internet Lawyer
Vodka Defamation Lawsuit
Our mixed cocktail of defamation woe begins in 2008. Business partners Christine Cooney and Jean-Denis Courtin manufactured and distributed a quinoa-based vodka, selling it as Qino One Vodka. Cooney was a spirits specialist and Courtin was a French restaurateur. A business dispute resulted in Courtin, represented by attorney Kelly Cartwright, filing suit against Cooney and her husband Daniel. A weekly publication, the Chicago Reader, published an article about the origin of Qino One in January 2009. It titled the article “Seeds of Change” and published it on the Chicago Reader’s website in a section that invites readers’ comments. So far, nothing is out of order. Open Mouth, Insert Foot Allegedly, Daniel Cooney, upon seeing the article in February, felt compelled to post a comment claiming his rights to ownership of the Qino One Vodka product. In his comments, he described ...
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Google Online Privacy Safari Snafu Angers FTC

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Internet Lawyer
FTC Regulations
Recently, a Stanford student, Jonathan Mayer, uncovered a snafu in the way Google handles cookies in Safari – and the disclosure could cost the search engine corporation a pretty penny. You see, Google told Safari users they were protected and didn’t need to opt-out of Google’s cookies. What Google forgot to mention, however, is a little-known loophole used to track users’ data and web surfing habits. How The Cookie Loophole Bypasses Online Privacy Protections Google Adwords operates a service called Double Click. In theory, only users who click on the advertisement and interact with it can be tracked by cookies. To get around this requirement, Double Click sent out invisible forms that made Safari believe the user was interacting with the ad. As a result, the user’s computer allowed cookies to track their data. When users asked if they could ...
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Get Rich Quick Businesses Get FTC Smackdown

Posted on May 5, 2012 by Internet Lawyer
FTC Regulations
If you’re an online or affiliate marketer who runs a “get rich quick” operation, the FTC judgment against Jeff Paul’s Shortcuts to Internet Millions, John Alexander’s Real Estate Riches In 14 Days, and John Beck’s Free & Clear Real Estate System should be of particular interest to you. Why? Well, it looks like the FTC is to be awarded $450 million dollars after finding the named “get rich quick” websites and infomercials to be misleading and in violation of both the FTC Act and the telemarketing sales rules. FTC Investigation Against Get Rich Quick Scams After receiving many complaints against the get rich quick defendants, the FTC began an investigation into the business procedures and marketing campaigns of some of the most successful “get rich quick” networks around. According to reports, the businesses engaged approximately 1 million private citizens with ...
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UK Makes Move In An Attempt To Stop Online Piracy

Posted on May 5, 2012 by Internet Lawyer
online piracy
Officials in the United Kingdom have made a bold move in the Internet copyright infringement and online piracy battle; they’ve ordered broadband providers to block infamous torrent search engine, The Pirate Bay. But many feel the High Court’s decision will do little, if anything, to thwart pirates’ online piracy plans. What Is The Pirate Bay? Why Do Officials Consider It Such An Online Piracy Threat Nearly every article about online copyright infringement law mentions ubiquitous torrent site, The Pirate Bay.  One of the most well-trafficked websites in the world, The Pirate Bay consistently ranks in Alexa’s top 100 worldwide. Now you may be wondering, “well, if it’s a known site for online piracy, why can’t governments shut them down easily?” The legal crux is in the nature of the website itself. You see, The Pirate Bay does not host any ...
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Defamation Plaintiff Arrested for Having Sex with a Student

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Internet Lawyer
Athlete defamation lawsuit
In a bizarre postscript to a high profile defamation case, Sarah Jones, a high school English teacher and the current captain of the Cincinnati Bengals cheerleading squad, has been indicted for having sex with a high school football player. Police claim that Jones had four or five sexual encounters with the student, and that she sent him numerous inappropriate text messages. Jones’ mother, who is the principal of the school, has been accused of tampering with evidence to protect her daughter. Both Jones and her mother claim complete innocence. Jones subsequently resigned her position at the school but is still officially the captain of the cheerleading squad. A spokesperson for the Bengals said the team would not take any action until further information was available. Jones first attracted national attention when she filed a defamation lawsuit against Nik Richie, founder ...
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Congress Passed CISPA. But Will It Become Law?

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Internet Lawyer
CISPA
Yesterday, in a 248-168 vote, Congress passed H.R. 3523, the little talked-about Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (a.k.a., CISPA, a.k.a. the Rogers-Rupperberger  Cybersecurity law). At first compared to SOPA and PIPA, CISPA includes an intellectual property component.  Proponents of the act, however, insist its purpose is to eradicate information sharing road-blocks between social networking platforms and Internet service providers. If passed by the Senate and signed into law by the President, CISPA would make it legal for companies like Facebook to give information about you to the government; it would also make it possible for government agencies to share classified information with networks in an effort to thwart various electronic national security threats. What IS CISPA, Who Supports It And Why? An amendment to the National Security Act of 1947, CISPA’s primary purpose is to allow and encourage information ...
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