Posted on September 21st, 2009 by William McGeveran
New FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski threw down the network neutrality gauntlet in a speech today [PDF] [HTML] at the Brookings Institution, announcing his intention to start a formal process that would result in adoption of binding regulations. [There is good news and blog coverage from AP, Wired, and Washington Post.] His proposal would turn [...]
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Filed under: Digital Media, ISP, Intermediaries, Internet & Society, Network Neutrality
Posted on July 28th, 2009 by William McGeveran
In an astonishing overreaction, Horizon Realty Group, a large Chicago landlord, has filed a defamation lawsuit against a former tenant, Amanda Bonnen, over this tweet sent on her (now defunct) Twitter account:
@JessB123 You should just come anyway. Who said sleeping in a moldy apartment was bad for you? Horizon realty thinks it’s ok.
Assuming the [...]
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Filed under: Blogging, Digital Media, Intermediaries, Internet & Society, Media, Peer Production, Social Networking
Posted on July 7th, 2009 by Derek Bambauer
Yep, it’s all Section 230, all the time here at Info/Law! Makes for a nice change from filtering. Mickey Kaus writes about the threat by Sarah Palin’s attorney to sue anyone defaming her, and also those who republish such defamation. He’s astonished to learn that Section 230 could shield him and other bloggers. (I’d presume [...]
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Filed under: Blogging, Court Decisions, Digital Media, First Amendment, ISP, Intermediaries, Internet & Society, Law School, Media, Scholarship, Social Networking, civil procedure
Posted on July 6th, 2009 by William McGeveran
There is some back-and-forth between Michael Risch and me about section 230, building on my earlier post here, now posted on PrawfsBlawg.
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Filed under: Blogging, Intermediaries, Internet & Society, Privacy, Trademarks
Posted on July 5th, 2009 by Derek Bambauer
The Federal Trade Commission has proposed to mandate disclosure of connections between bloggers and advertisers (those selling stuff) under its Section 5 authority, which enables the Commission to prohibit “unfair or deceptive acts or practices” in commerce. In short, the FTC seeks to hold advertisers and endorsers (those would be the bloggers) liable for 1) [...]
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Filed under: Blogging, Corporate Law, First Amendment, Intermediaries, Internet & Society, Media, Peer Production, Social Networking, Software
Posted on June 25th, 2009 by William McGeveran
Cyberprof Michael Risch has posted some interesting thoughts on the emerging complexity of Section 230. We’ve talked about this provision on the blog many times before. And Mark Lemley wrote a good paper on it a while back. The provision pretty much immunizes web sites and other internet providers from liability for a host [...]
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Filed under: Anonymity, Digital Media, First Amendment, Intermediaries, Internet & Society, Privacy, Social Networking, Trademarks
Posted on February 13th, 2009 by William McGeveran
Former New York Times and Vanity Fair journalist David Margolick has a long and detailed article about the litigation against the AutoAdmit message board by two Yale Law School students who were targeted for harassment by the commenters there. (h/t Brian Leiter.)
My views on this topic have changed somewhat as I have learned more from [...]
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Filed under: Anonymity, Blogging, Digital Media, First Amendment, Intermediaries, Internet & Society, Privacy, Scholarship, Social Networking
Posted on September 8th, 2008 by Derek Bambauer
J.K. Rowling has won her copyright lawsuit against RDR Books, the (now former) publisher of the Harry Potter Lexicon book. The decision is 68 pages long and is available courtesy of the Wall Street Journal. I thought Rowling would, and should, win, but I’m not impressed by the court’s reasoning, especially on the key question [...]
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Filed under: Books, Copyright, Court Decisions, Education & Copyright
Posted on April 3rd, 2008 by Derek Bambauer
The Ninth Circuit has just ruled (en banc) that the Roommates.com Web site is not entitled to immunity under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. (Props to Eric Goldman for the link!) The opinion, by Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, is typically lucid and holds, essentially, that Roommates falls outside the safe harbor because it [...]
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Filed under: Court Decisions, Digital Media, Filtering, Intermediaries, Internet & Society, Peer Production, Search Engines, Social Networking, Software
Posted on April 4th, 2007 by Derek Bambauer
Talking with parents of young children about the Internet quickly raises the topic of adult content on-line, and how anxious / desperate parents are to keep their kids from seeing it (either accidentally or on purpose).
At a conference (see Bill’s post) at Michigan State (run by the indefatigable, immensely connected Peter Yu), I came across [...]
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Filed under: Digital Media, Filtering, ISP, Intermediaries, Internet & Society, Law School, international