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Thank You and Farewell to Three Key Members of the CMLP Team

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As 2007 drew to a close, the Citizen Media Law Project lost three valuable members of its team: Colin Rhinesmith, David Russcol, and Pat McKiernan.

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Report Examines Use of Copyrighted Material in Online Videos, Finds Free Speech Rights Threatened

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A new study conducted by the Center for Social Media at American University has found that many online videos use copyrighted material in ways that are likely to be fair use under copyright law, yet these uses are currently threatened by anti-piracy measures online.

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Saudi Blogger Detained

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The mainstream press (here, here) reports that the Saudi Arabian authorities have detained Fouad Ahmad Al-Farhan, a popular Saudi blogger whose blog has been a platform for criticism of government corruption and advocacy for political reform.

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Bush Signs FOIA Reform Bill; New Definition of News Media Will Benefit Bloggers and Non-Traditional Journalists

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In one of his last executive actions of the year, President Bush signed into law the "OPEN Government Act of 2007" on December 31, 2007. The Senate unanimously passed the reform bill earlier in December, and it passed the House of Representatives by voice vote on December 18. The Associated Press is reporting that Bush signed the bill without comment.

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New Jersey Superior Court Quashes Subpoena to Unmask "daTruthSquad"

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According to EFF, a New Jersey Superior Court judge quashed a subpoena seeking the identity of anonymous blogger "daTruth Squad" on Friday. The blogger had criticized a malpractice lawsuit filed by the Township of Manalapan, New Jersey against a former city attorney. Then, as part of the same malpractice lawsuit, the Township issued a subpoena to Google (owner of the blog's hosting service) seeking information relating to daTruth Squad's identity.

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Here Comes Another Takedown

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Earlier this month, comedy group The Richter Scales released a funny music video, "Here Comes Another Bubble." The video showed a montage of Silicon Valley images over a sound-track adapted from Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire," lampooning the Web 2.0 bubble that seems near bursting again.

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Congress Passes FOIA Reform Bill, Expands Definition of "News Media"

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Earlier this week, Congress passed a bill that substantially reforms the Freedom of Information Act and expands the definition of who is a "representative of the news media" under the Act. The bill, entitled the "Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act" or, more succinctly, the "OPEN Government Act of 2007," passed unanimously in the Senate last week and cleared the House of Representatives by voice vote on Tuesday.

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Think Secret to Cease Operations as Part of Settlement With Apple

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TechCrunch is reporting that Apple and Think Secret have settled their longstanding trade secrets dispute. Here's the kicker: under the terms of the agreement, Think Secret will cease operations. Think Secret issued a statement:

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Judge Dismisses Class Action Lawsuit Against Lawyer Rating Site Avvo.com

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Yesterday, a federal judge in Washington dismissed a class action lawsuit filed by two prominent lawyers in Seattle against Avvo Inc., the operator of Avvo.com, a website that profiles and rates lawyers and allows users to submit reviews of lawyers they have worked with. Plaintiffs also sued Mark Britton, Avvo's CEO, and 25 anonymous "John Doe" users of the site.

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Court Rejects Bid to Use DMCA to Bypass First Amendment Protection for Anonymous Speech

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This weekend I came accross a recent case, In re Subpoena Issued Pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to: 43SB.COM, LLC, 2007 WL 4335441 (D. Idaho Dec. 7, 2007).

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Primer on Immunity -- and Liability -- for Third-Party Content Under Section 230 of Communications Decency Act

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As a lead up to the launch of the Citizen Media Law Project's Legal Guide in January, we'll be putting up longer, substantive blog posts on various subjects covered in the guide. This first post in the series stems from a talk I gave at the Legal Risk Management in the Web 2.0 World conference in Washington, DC.

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Citizen Media Law Podcast #6: Copyright and Fair Use in Savage v. Council on American-Islamic Relations

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This week, Colin Rhinesmith speaks with Sam Bayard about copyright and fair use issues involved in a recent lawsuit against the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Download the MP3 (time: 9:40)

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Essent v. Doe: Anonymous Blogger Wins on Appeal

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The anonymous blogger who runs "The-Paris-site" will remain anonymous, at least for now. Yesterday, a Texas appellate court ordered the trial court to vacate its previous order compelling the blogger's ISP to reveal his name and address to Essent Healthcare, Inc. (For background on the case, see our database entry, Essent v.

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Best Buy Apologizes for Cease-and-Desist Blooper

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Yesterday, Best Buy sent a cease-and-desist letter to Scott Beale of Laughing Squid for reporting on an "Improv Everywhere" prank and their sales of T-shirts mocking the Best Buy logo. Best Buy claimed the post infringed its trademarks and copyrights by "promoting" sales of a T-shirt that mocked the Best Buy logo.

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Massachusetts Wiretapping Law Strikes Again

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Boston Now reports that Peter Lowney, a political activist from Newton, Massachusetts, was convicted last week of violating the Massachusetts wiretapping statute (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 272, § 99) and sentenced to six months probation and fined $500. The criminal case arose out of Lowney's concealed videotaping of a Boston University police sergeant during a political protest in 2006.

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Democrats Accepting Applications from Bloggers to Cover 2008 Convention

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CyberJournalist.net is reporting that the Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) is  accepting applications from bloggers interested in being part of the credentialed blogger pool at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado:

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Goodale on CDA 230 and Anonymous Speech Online

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James Goodale, the former vice chairman of the New York Times, published an article on Friday in the New York Law Journal (registration required) on CDA 230 and the highly publicized Doe v. Ciolli case.

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Stanford's Fair Use Project to Represent RDR Books in Harry Potter Lexicon Lawsuit

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The Fair Use Project of Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society announced Tuesday that it is joining as co-counsel to defend RDR Books in the copyright infringement lawsuit filed in federal court in New York by Warner Brothers and J.K. Rowling in October 2007.

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'DontDateHim' Lawyer Todd Hollis Back in Court With Second Lawsuit Against Dating Advice Site

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Pittsburgh lawyer Todd Hollis is back in court with a second lawsuit against the dating advice site Don'tDateHimGirl.com, whose users accused him of infidelity and infecting women with herpes. Hollis had previously filed a defamation lawsuit in Pennsylvania state court against the owner of the site back in June 2006.

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