Friday, May 8, 2015
The Amazon Noncompete Clause Here it is, in all its overbroad glory: During employment and for 18 months after the Separation Date, Employee will not, directly or indirectly, whether on Employee’s own behalf or on behalf of any other entity (for example, as an employee, agent, partner, or …Thursday, May 7, 2015
Apple under federal anti-competition scrutiny, again Micah Singleton writes for The Verge: Sources also indicated that Apple offered to pay YouTube’s music licensing fee to Universal Music Group if the label stopped allowing its songs on YouTube. Apple is seemingly trying to clear a path before its …Thursday, April 30, 2015
This story about a U.K. court ordering Popcorn Time blocked has been knocking around in my brain for a couple of days now. When stuff knocks around in my head for days, chances are it will end up in written form, right here. So here we go.
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
“Super-cuts” from same-sex marriage arguments SCOTUSBlog contributor Tejinder Singh posted 36 minutes of audio highlights from yesterday’s oral argument in Obergefell v. Hodges. The case is one of several on the Court’s docket this term focused on two specific constitutional questions: …Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Re-engaging driver with questions after saying he’s free to leave is a second stop This is worth knowing if you’re a Pennsylvania resident or you find yourself frequently driving through the state. However, do yourself a favor and don’t throw it in the face of an officer whose behavior …Thursday, April 9, 2015
NJ lawyers need a social media policy for employees Jennifer Marino Thibodaux of Gibbons writes: The subject attorneys were retained to defend a town and its police sergeant in a personal injury action. One attorney directed his paralegal to conduct Internet research about the plaintiff. The …Thursday, April 2, 2015
Another blow to deceptively marketed “unlimited” data plans Jon Brodkin at Ars Technica: The FCC's new rules ban throttling except in cases of "reasonable network management." AT&T could argue that the throttling is necessary to keep its network running smoothly, but FCC Chairman …Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Employee Manuals Need Spring Cleaning Thanks to the NLRB Jason Shinn, writing at Michigan Employment Law Advisor: But this is where employers really need to be concerned: The distinction between what is permissible and what is not is somewhat anemic to begin with, and if your company’s policies are …Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Snapchat selfie gets teen arrested on murder chargeJill Daly, reporting at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: On Thursday, a woman told police her son had a copy of a Snapchat photo sent from the accused. Jeannette Sgt. Donald Johnston saw the photo, depicting the wounded victim in the chair as found by …Monday, February 9, 2015
Gay marriage begins in AlabamaJustices Thomas and Scalia were none too pleased that their colleagues refused to continue a stay on same-sex marriages in Alabama pending the Court’s resolution of the issue later this year: Yet rather than treat like applicants alike, the Court looks the other way as …Friday, February 6, 2015
How the DMCA criminalized DIY farm equipment repairKyle Wiens, writing at Wired: Manufacturers have every legal right to put a password or an encryption over the tECU. Owners, on the other hand, don’t have the legal right to break the digital lock over their own equipment. The Digital Millennium …Thursday, February 5, 2015
Innocent until convinced otherwiseSusan Perry, reporting at MinnPost.com on a study led by psychologist Julia Shaw of the University of Bedminstershire and published in the journal Psychological Science: The results were stunning (so stunning that the researchers stopped the study after …Friday, January 30, 2015
EFF Wins Battle Over Secret Legal Opinions on Government SpyingThe EFF said in a press release yesterday: The U.S. Department of Justice today filed a motion to dismiss its appeal of a ruling over legal opinions about Section 215 of the Patriot Act, the controversial provision of law relied on by …Friday, January 23, 2015
Federal judge strikes down gay-marriage ban in AlabamaI’ll just leave this right here…Wednesday, January 14, 2015
South Dakota same-sex marriage ban fallsI’ve probably used this line before, but I can’t help myself… Another one bites the dust.Monday, January 12, 2015
A Reminder To Ditch The Disclaimer This Tax SeasonKelly Phillips Erb, writing at Forbes: According to the final Regs, “the rules in the final regulations are intended to eliminate the need for unnecessary disclaimers.” In other words, the IRS gave a nod to how crazy things had become, noting, …Monday, January 5, 2015
Google Calendars as a timekeeping toolKeri Mahoney of Law Technology Today writes about using Google Calendar to track and bill for attorney time, but this is a clever technique for anyone who needs to track time. Alternatively, Toggl is great for basic time tracking and Harvest is even better if …Friday, January 2, 2015
Message scanning lawsuit against Facebook won’t go awayJohn Timmer reports at Ars Technica: The court responded to this request by pursuing an extraordinarily rare course of action: it read Facebook’s entire terms of service. And, in this case, their vague language—typically used to provide …Friday, December 19, 2014
Treatment of Transgender Employment Discrimination Claims Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 It’s about damn time. According to a DOJ press release: Attorney General Holder announced today that the Department of Justice will take the position in litigation that the protection of Title …Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Employees sue Sony over email leaksSaba Hamedy and Meg James, at the LA Times: Hackers began releasing sensitive data after the studio’s security breach became public on Nov. 24. The group, calling itself Guardians of Peace, has released data including thousands of pages of emails from studio …Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Photo of Pike County Courthouse by the author Several excellent writing professors have told me throughout my life that you start by starting. Introductions, caveats and excuses delay your goal and bore or confuse the reader. Don’t tell people what you’re going to do. Do it. But they also advised me …Friday, December 5, 2014
Tim Cook will lend his name to Alabama LGBTQ billApple initially expressed corporate reluctance, but Apple General Counsel Bruce Sewell later told Pamela Todd, Alabama’s only openly gay lawmaker, that CEO Tim Cook “would be delighted” to have a bill named after him which would protect LGBTQ Alabama …Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Searching Google ScholarI’m trying to post fewer links, which means I’ve been posting less frequently in general. I’m working on some articles, but until they’re ready to publish I’ll still share the occasional link. This one is a great article from the American Bar Association’s Law Technology …Friday, November 21, 2014
Serial podcast presents novel collision of law and technologyThe incredible true crime podcast Serial presents a novel collision between technology and the law. This time, it’s not that technology plays or should play a particular part in the case itself, but that a podcast has shed light on a cold …Friday, November 14, 2014
Americans’ Cellphones Targeted in Secret U.S. Spy ProgramDevlin Barrett reports at The Wall Street Journal: The program cuts out phone companies as an intermediary in searching for suspects. Rather than asking a company for cell-tower information to help locate a suspect, which law enforcement has …Thursday, November 13, 2014
Warrantless seizure of child pornography evidence fatal to prosecution’s caseThe Michigan Court of Appeals issued an opinion on November 6, 2014 affirming a lower court’s decision excluding evidence recovered from Maximilian Paul Gingrich’s (“Defendant”) laptop computer in a child pornography …Wednesday, October 22, 2014
SCOTUS Servo tracks and announces changes to Supreme Court opinionsGitHub is where most software developers maintain their projects. It provides version control, issue tracking and much more to its users. I even have a few repositories of my own. SCOTUS Servo is developed by V. David Zvenyach, a …Thursday, October 9, 2014
Philly will consider adding LGBTQ protections to hate crimes ordinanceRandy Lobasso, writing at Philly Weekly‘s PhillyNow blog: Last week, Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown introduced a proposal along with Councilman Jim Kenney to add disability, sexual orientation and gender identity to the …Friday, September 12, 2014
Privacy advocates, tech companies nudge Congress to protect ‘abandoned’ e-mailsThe Email Privacy Act would prevent the government from using mere administrative subpoenas to access email older than 180 days. The distinction, included in the Stored Communications Act , was based on the need for users …Friday, September 5, 2014
7th Circuit strikes down gay marriage bans in Wisconsin and Indiana The legal momentum favors universal application of the fundamental right of two consenting adults to marry, but that doesn’t make each ruling any less exciting.