Law
- This is only the first in an ongoing series, with three other parts as of the moment I published this post.
- You can buy the contract from Peter Jackson’s film adaptation of The Hobbit on Amazon.
- James Daily, who wrote the post to which I link above, bought that prop contract from Amazon and used it in the creation of the article series.
Porn troll Prenda Law angers judge with shady behavior
Porn troll Prenda Law angers judge with shady behavior
Earlier this week I mentioned that the EFF was going to represent a couple of anti-trolling websites in a case brought by porno copyright troll Prenda Law.
The Ars Technica article by Megan Geuss is well-written and really conveys the absurdity of the situation in which Prenda has put itself. I urge you to click the link in this post’s title to go give her piece a full read.
Also, if you’re interested in keeping up with the latest in potential troll-stomping, consider keeping an eye on the Ars series "Who’s behind Prenda Law?". They always do great work at Ars and this series is no exception.
EFF will represent targets of copyright troll Prenda Law
EFF will represent targets of copyright troll Prenda Law
Copyright trolls sue lots of people to extract settlements from those who can’t afford to litigate in the face of potentially massive statutory damages. Their claims are often facially lacking in merit and instead leverage intimidation and poorly-constructed federal copyright damages provisions to bankrupt people for profit.
I’m impressed by Wordpress’ parent company, Automattic, who refused to respond to the troll’s fishing expedition. And it’s good to see EFF lend a hand here in the form of representation, but eventually Congress needs to step in and fix the statutory damages provisions that incentivize copyright trolls to this vile abuse of our legal system in the first place.
For some great background and reporting on trolls and those who fight them, read this Ars Technica piece by Timothy B. Lee.
Harvard snooped on faculty email
Harvard snooped on faculty email
If you’re composing an email you don’t want someone to see, consider picking up the phone instead. Your assumptions about the privacy of email are inaccurate.
ECPA amendment would require warrant even for email older than 6 months
ECPA amendment would require warrant even for email older than 6 months
Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Ted Poe (R-Texas), and Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) are pushing an amendment to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act that would require a warrant for authorities to obtain any email, instead of allowing free access to messages older than six months.
I wrote in January about Google’s decision to require a warrant even where the law does not, so the ECPA’s shortcomings in the digital age (the law is more than twenty years old) are sometimes mitigated by responsible corporate policies.
But a legitimate amendment like Lofgren’s would apply Google’s common sense approach to 4th Amendment rights to all such service providers. There’s simply no excuse not to get this done.
Zombie Law Schools
Gerard Magliocca of Concurring Opinions introduces a fresh take on the legal education topic.
CBS "Streisanding" itself among courts with CNET debacle
CBS “Streisanding” itself among courts with CNET debacle
CBS’s strong-arming of CNET on this front has the exact opposite of the intended effect: now that it is clear how much control CBS has and is willing to exert over CNET content, any reasonable court must consider the possibility that the corporation is as deliberate about what CNET is allowed to do as they are being about what CNET is not allowed to do. Stock manipulation is the one I’m really thinking about here, but perhaps there are others.
It’s poor management, poor lawyering, and broken logic.
Apple store trade dress
I wonder if there are any retail stores out there that have looked like Apple stores since before Apple stores, and before this trademark was granted earlier this month. I don’t mean knock-off stores, though. I’m thinking make-up shops, art galleries, and other entities that often embrace a minimalist store design aesthetic.
Here’s a direct link to the very-user-hostile USPTO page for the filing.
Confessions of a Liberal Gun Owner
Confessions of a Liberal Gun Owner
Novelist Justin Cronin presents a very well-written and reasonable take on why knee-jerk reactions on either side of the gun debate are misinformed and unrealistic:
[…] in the weeks since Newtown, I’ve watched my Facebook feed, which is dominated by my coastal friends, fill up with anti-gun dispatches that seemed divorced from reality. I agree it would be nice if the world had exactly zero guns in it. But I don’t see that happening, and calling gun owners “a bunch of inbred rednecks” doesn’t do much to advance rational discussion.
At Google, Constitution trumps statute
At Google, Constitution trumps statute
David Kravets quotes a Googler:
“Google requires an ECPA search warrant for contents of Gmail and other services based on the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, which prevents unreasonable search and seizure,” Chris Gaither, a Google spokesman, said.
The Electronic Communications Privacy Act isn’t always as demanding as Google, and their assertion that the policy is based on Constitutional requirements implies that the ECPA does not comport with the same requirements. That’s a bold legal position to take, but as Mr. Kravets explains at Wired, Google isn’t necessarily alone.
Veganism as religious belief
I must admit that I never thought about it in that light, but I’d love to read the plaintiff’s essay.
'Escape from Tomorrow', filmed in Disney World without permission, debuts at Sundance
‘Escape from Tomorrow’, filmed in Disney World without permission, debuts at Sundance
Steven Zeitchik of the LA Times:
To make the movie, [Randy] Moore wouldn’t print out script pages or shot sequences for the 25 days he was filming on Disney turf, instead keeping all the info on iPhones. This way, when actors and crew were looking down between takes, passersby just thought they were glancing at their messages.
The films plot, such as it is, sounds as intriguing as its method of creation.
If it does get a distribution deal, Disney will most likely brings its formidable legal resources to bear upon it, and they’ll most likely succeed.
But I predict that the company will trigger a Streisand effect, perhaps as much to the filmmaker’s detriment as anyone else’s (to the extent that he hopes to recoup his investment), that will drive people to seek out and, in the era of digital file sharing, inevitably find the film.
Non-interfering citizens should be able to videotape on-duty police
Non-interfering citizens should be able to videotape on-duty police
If someone is videotaping a police incident, but not interfering therewith, there is no lawful justification for police interference. I’m not always in agreement with the ACLU, but this harassment must end. A nation where state surveillance is only increasing must be open to the right of citizens to turn the lens in the other direction.
Panetta Ties Delay of Aid in Mali to Legal Questions
Panetta Ties Delay of Aid in Mali to Legal Questions
As I learned in that international law class I took last semester (for which, in case you were wondering, I earned a very respectable grade), there are Administration lawyers working feverishly behind every such move to ensure that we’re complying with international law, or that we have defensible reasons why we are not so compliant.
More House of Representatives data available in XML
More House of Representatives data available in XML
O’Reilly's Alex Howard reports that both House floor summaries and bulk downloads of all House legislation are now available in XML. It doesn't mean everything Congress does is available yet, but it’s a great progression.
I really hope some enterprising developers make something cool with the newly-available data streams, and future offerings as well. I propose an app that provides push notifications when keywords of your choice are mentioned on the House floor.
Law and the Multiverse analyzes 'The Hobbit' Contract
Law and the Multiverse analyzes ‘The Hobbit’ Contract
I love several things about this:
Wonderfully fun stuff!
Lawyers on Quora
Former Facebook CTO and Quora co-founder Adam D’Angelo, talking to Om Malik at GigaOM:
The real reward is in the response to your answer and the fact that millions can read it. You already see more people giving and sharing knowledge for free. Lawyers and other professionals are using Quora to build their reputation and build their bonafides.
I haven’t seen many lawyers on Quora yet, but I’ll start looking for them to see exactly what D’Angelo means . I wonder if some use cases implicate ethics rules.
Witness intimidation reform on the horizon in Philadelphia
Witness intimidation reform on the horizon in Philadelphia
The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Craig R. McCoy reports on a recent special commission report on the problem and some suggested solutions. In a city where street wisdom warns that “snitches get stitches,” this is an encouraging development.
Student loses suit over school ID requirement
Student loses suit over school ID requirement
Wired's David Kravets reports that:
The girl’s father, Steven, wrote the school district explaining why removing the chip wasn’t good enough, that the daughter should be free from displaying the card altogether. “‘We must obey the word of God,” the father said, according to court documents. “By asking my daughter and our family to participate and fall in line like the rest of them is asking us to disobey our Lord and Savior.”
Unfortunately, in the modern American climate of violence, it’s hard to support someone who refuses to wear an ID, especially with the the tracking removed by the school. You can download the 25-page ruling as a PDF document here.