Recent Threats Added to the DMLP Database

NOTE: The information and commentary contained in this database entry are based on court filings and other informational sources that may contain unproven allegations made by the parties. The truthfulness and accuracy of such information is likely to be in dispute. Information contained in this entry is current as of the last event mentioned in the "Description" section below; additional proceedings might have taken place in this matter since this event.

MacDonald v. Paton

Date: 09/14/1999
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Dismissed (total)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Massachusetts
Publication: Website
Elsa Paton operated a website that reported on local affairs in Athol, Massachusetts and the surrounding community. The site functioned as an interactive public forum on issues relating to Athol town governance, including education funding and municipal use of tax dollars. It included information on education reform,...
- 09/11/2008 - 9:40pm - 0 comments

Lafayette High School v. Glover

Date: 12/06/2007
Status: Concluded
Disposition: n/a
Type: Disciplinary Action
Jurisdiction: Missouri
Publication: Social Network
Logan Glover, a student at Lafayette High in Missouri, used a digital camera to take photos of his teacher during class, which despicts fellow classmates in the background smiling and giving thumbs-ups. He later posted those photos to his Facebook page....
- 09/10/2008 - 10:21pm - 0 comments

University of Minnesota Duluth v. Varsity Athletes

Date: 04/01/2007
Status: Concluded
Disposition: n/a
Type: Disciplinary Action
Jurisdiction: Minnesota
Publication: Social Network
During the 2006-07 academic year, the University of Minnesota Duluth banned student-athletes from using popular social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace. The University asked students to stop using the sites after an online posting resulted in...
- 09/10/2008 - 9:48pm - 0 comments

Bidbay.com v. Bruce Spry Jr.

Date: 04/02/2002
Status: Pending
Disposition: n/a
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: California
Publication: Forum
Internet auction website Bidbay.com and its president and CEO, George Tannous, sued Bruce Spry Jr. and two of its competitors for libel, intentional interference with prospective business advantage, unfair business practices, invasion of privacy, and disparagement in California state court.  According to...
- 09/10/2008 - 5:37pm - 0 comments

Obi v. Netcetera

Date: 01/22/2008
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Material Removed
Type: Correspondence
Jurisdiction: United Kingdom
Publication: Blog
Dublin-based alternative medicine practitioner Dr. Joseph Chikelue Obi sent a cease-and-desist letter through his "adviser" to Netcetera, the web hosting company for Dr. Andy Lewis (a.k.a Le Canard Noir), who provides skeptical commentary on alternative medicine on his Quackometer blog....
- 09/10/2008 - 4:36pm - 0 comments

Society of Homeopaths v. Netcetera

Date: 10/11/2007
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Material Removed
Type: Correspondence
Jurisdiction: United Kingdom
Publication: Blog
The UK-based Society of Homeopaths sent a cease-and-desist letter to web host Netcetera demanding that it remove a post from Le Canard Noir's Quackometer blog entitled "The Gentle Art of Homeopathic Killing." The Society alleged that the post, which criticized it...
- 09/10/2008 - 4:35pm - 0 comments

Jones Day v. BlockShopper LLC

Date: 08/12/2008
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Settled (total)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Illinois
Publication: Website
Founded in 2006, BlockShopper.com is a start-up local online real estate news service covering Chicago, South Florida, Las Vegas, and St. Louis. Its reporting staff is made up of ex-print journalists who collect public real estate sales data, then use...
- 09/06/2008 - 2:16pm - 0 comments

Tatum, LLC v. Onecle, Inc.

Date: 10/25/2007
Status: Pending
Disposition: n/a
Type: Correspondence
Jurisdiction: Georgia
Publication: Website
Onecle, a site that collects examples of business contracts, posted a copy of a Tatum employment agreement. Tatum, through its attorney DLA Piper, sent a letter demanding that the contract be taken down, threatening legal action if the material was not removed....
- 09/05/2008 - 7:04pm - 0 comments

Albritton v. Cisco Systems, Inc.

Date: 03/03/2008
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Settled (total)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Texas
Publication: Blog
Richard Frenkel authors the Patent Troll Tracker blog, where he comments on lawsuits that in his view abuse the patent system. Eric M. Albritton, a patent lawyer practicing in Texas, sued Frenkel and his employer,...
- 09/03/2008 - 6:01pm - 0 comments

Parker v. Learn The Skills

Date: 04/07/2006
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Dismissed (total)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Delaware
Publication: Forum
Gordon Roy Parker (aka Ray Gordon), who runs a business teaching men how better to seduce women, sued several of his "seduction business" competitors for defamation, false advertising, unfair competition, tortious interference, antitrust violations, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations ("RICO") Act violations,...
- 09/03/2008 - 3:38pm - 0 comments

FBI v. Wolf

Date: 02/06/2006
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Settled (total)
Type: Subpoena
Jurisdiction: California
Publication: Broadcast, Website
The Federal Bureau of Investigations subpoenaed video blogger and freelance journalist Josh Wolf for information regarding a political demonstration that resulted in harm to a police officer. The FBI sought the identities of protestors who appeared in Wolf's video recording of the...
- 09/03/2008 - 2:15pm - 0 comments

Dailey v. Popma

Date: 09/01/2006
Status: Pending
Disposition: Dismissed (partial)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: North Carolina
Publication: Forum
North Carolina resident Jack Dailey filed a defamation suit against Donald Popma after Popma allegedly criticized him in Internet postings. According to court documents, Dailey claimed that Popma and co-defendant R. W. Beavers accused him of being a crook, a liar, and...
- 09/03/2008 - 1:31pm - 0 comments

LDS Church v. Wikileaks

Date: 05/05/2008
Status: Pending
Disposition: n/a
Type: Correspondence
Jurisdiction:
Publication: Wiki
Intellectual Reserve, Inc., the legal entity that owns the intellectual property of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, sent a DMCA takedown notice to Wikileaks after someone posted the...
- 09/03/2008 - 12:59pm - 0 comments

Dugas v. Robbins

Date: 07/07/2008
Status: Pending
Disposition: Material Removed
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Massachusetts
Publication: Blog
Robbins wrote a blog post that criticized a group of abutters for their actions in delaying the implementation of a dredging project through their appeals and interventions in numerous fora. The lead abutter, Joe Dugas, and his lawyer, Paul Revere,...
- 09/02/2008 - 3:43pm - 0 comments

Tylo v. Bluestone

Date: 08/28/2008
Status:
Disposition: n/a
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: New York
Publication: Blog
Brooklyn attorney Marina Tylo filed a lawsuit against Andrew Lavoott Bluestone of the New York Attorney Malpractice Blog on August 28, 2008. According to the Summons with Notice, Tylo seeks $10,000,000 in damages for...
- 09/02/2008 - 10:14am - 0 comments

Vanginderen v. Cornell

Date: 10/29/2007
Status: Pending
Disposition: Dismissed (total)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: California
Publication: Print, Website
Kevin Vanginderen, a Cornell graduate, sued Cornell University seeking $1 million in damages for libel and publication of private facts after Cornell made available online an 1983 issue of the Cornell Chronicle newspaper that reported that Vanginderen had been charged for third...
- 08/29/2008 - 6:26pm - 0 comments

Arizona National Guard v. Clark

Date: 07/19/2005
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Material Removed
Type: Disciplinary Action
Jurisdiction: Iraq
Publication: Blog
Specialist Leonard A. Clark, a member of the Arizona National Guard serving in Iraq, was demoted to Private First Class for allegedly releasing classified information on his blog.  According to press accounts, Clark's blog was openly critical of the war...
- 08/29/2008 - 4:27pm - 0 comments

Williams v. Advertising Sex, LLC

Date: 03/18/2005
Status: Pending
Disposition: Dismissed (partial)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: West Virginia
Publication: Website
Former Miss West Virginia, Allison Williams, filed a lawsuit against approximately sixty defendants, including Joseph Vitagliano, who operates Taxi Driver, a website that focuses on celebrity gossip and regularly features nude or semi-nude photographs of female celebrities. Williams alleges...
- 08/29/2008 - 3:36pm - 0 comments

Viacom v. Knight

Date: 08/29/2007
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Withdrawn
Type: Correspondence
Jurisdiction: California
Publication: Website
Viacom Inc. alleged that independent filmmaker Christopher Knight infringed its copyright by posting a clip of a VH1 television program containing Knight's own video that VH1 had used without permission. YouTube removed Knight's clip at the request of ...
- 08/29/2008 - 2:16pm - 0 comments

Highfields Capital Management v. Doe

Date: 07/29/2004
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Subpoena Quashed, Withdrawn
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: California, Massachusetts
Publication: Forum
Highfields Capital Management sued an anonymous user of a Yahoo! forum about the company Silicon Graphics, Inc. ("SGI"), of which Highfields was the largest shareholder.  Using the name "highfieldscapital," the user posted three messages allegedly suggesting that Highfields...
- 08/29/2008 - 1:30pm - 0 comments

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