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.

WRNN-TV v. Does

Date: 12/01/2000
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Settled (total)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Connecticut
Publication: Forum, Website
An anonymous Internet user ("webmaster") created the website "RNN Sucks" and a related Yahoo! message board in order to critize New York television station WRNN-TV. A number of anonymous posters used the message board to criticize WRNN. WRNN filed suit against Yahoo!...
- 12/13/2007 - 6:18pm - 0 comments

Massachusetts v. Lowney

Date: 12/01/2007
Status: Pending
Disposition: Verdict (plaintiff)
Type: Criminal Charge
Jurisdiction: Massachusetts
Publication: Website
Peter Lowney, a political activist from Newton, Massachusetts, was convicted in December 2007 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...
- 12/12/2007 - 12:38pm - 0 comments

Rowling v. RDR Books

Date: 10/31/2007
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Injunction Issued, Verdict (plaintiff)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: New York
Publication: Print, Website
J.K. Rowling, the author of the successful Harry Potter books and films, and Warner Brothers, which produces and markets Harry Potter movies and products, filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against book publisher RDR Books in the United States District Court for the...
- 12/07/2007 - 11:17am - 0 comments

Hollis v. Cunningham

Date: 11/29/2007
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Settled (total)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Florida
Publication: Forum
Todd Hollis objected to the information users posted about him on DontDateHimGirl.com, a website that allows women to post about men and warn other women about them. In May 2006, Mr. Hollis sued Tasha Joseph/Cunningham, the operator of the website,...
- 12/06/2007 - 11:49pm - 0 comments

Best Van Lines v. Walker

Date: 08/29/2003
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Dismissed (total)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: New York
Publication: Forum
Best Van Lines sued Tim Walker, an Iowa resident, for defamation in federal District Court in New York. According to an appellate decision in the case, Walker posted comments about Best Van Lines on his website, MovingScam.com, asserting that the...
- 12/05/2007 - 10:19pm - 0 comments

Falwell v. Lamparello

Date: 10/01/2003
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Dismissed (total)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Virginia
Publication: Website
In 1999, Christopher Lamparello registered the domain name www.fallwell.com and used the website to criticize Rev. Jerry Falwell's views concerning gays and lesbians. In September 2003, Falwell initiated an arbitration action against Lamparello pursuant to the Uniform Domain...
- 12/05/2007 - 9:50pm - 0 comments

City of Sheboygan v. Reisinger

Date: 10/19/2007
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Withdrawn
Type: Correspondence
Jurisdiction: Wisconsin
Publication: Website
Jennifer Reisinger operates Sheboygan Spirit, a website pertaining to the government and community of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and Brat City Web Design, a site promoting her web development business.  Reisinger's business site contained a link to the ...
- 12/05/2007 - 9:50pm - 0 comments

Dendrite International v. Does

Date: 05/24/2000
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Subpoena Quashed
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: New Jersey
Publication: Forum
Dendrite International, a company that developed and serviced software for the pharmaceutical industry, brought a John Doe lawsuit in New Jersey state court against fourteen unnamed defendants for critical messages they posted on Yahoo! message boards. Dendrite claimed the messages were defamatory...
- 12/05/2007 - 9:49pm - 0 comments

Islamic Society of Arlington, Texas v. Kaufman

Date: 10/12/2007
Status: Pending
Disposition: Dismissed (total), Injunction Issued
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Texas
Publication: Website
On October 12, 2007, the Islamic Society of Arlington, Texas, and several other Islamic organizations sued Joe Kaufman for libel and intentional infiction of emotional distress in Texas state court. In addition to seeking libel damages, the plaintiffs asked the court to...
- 12/05/2007 - 9:49pm - 0 comments

Savage v. Council on American-Islamic Relations

Date: 12/03/2007
Status: Pending
Disposition: Dismissed (total)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: California
Publication: Website
Conservative talk show host Michael Savage sued the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in federal district court in California on December 3, 2007 for copyright infringement. He claims that CAIR violated his copyrights in the October 29, 2007 program of the "Michael...
- 12/05/2007 - 4:24pm - 0 comments

Patches the Beaver v. AsteroidBooty.com

Date: 11/23/2007
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Material Removed
Type: Other
Jurisdiction:
Publication: Blog
A blog post on AsteroidBooty.com, an anonymous blog focused on "chronicles from outerspace, products that rock my world, and more," criticized the high price of children's books and contrasted the prices with the (asserted) easiness of writing the books. The...
- 12/05/2007 - 12:41pm - 0 comments

Neuwirth v. Silverstein

Date: 06/29/2007
Status: Pending
Disposition: Dismissed (partial)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: California
Publication: Blog, Email
In June 2007, Rachel Neuwirth, a journalist and political commentator who espouses strongly pro-Israel views, sued Washington-state blogger Richard Silverstein and university professor Joel Beinin for libel in a California state court. On November 27, 2007, the court...
- 12/02/2007 - 12:32pm - 0 comments

Manhattan 10021 LLC v. Maloney

Date: 09/28/2007
Status: Pending
Disposition: Dismissed (partial), Injunction Denied
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: New York
Publication: Website
Todd Layne Cleaners of Manhattan sued Evan Maloney after he posted flyers near the store and created a gripe site at toddlaynecleanerssucks.com. On the flyers and website, Maloney allegedly stated that the dry cleaner "sucks" and "is overpriced." The complaint,...
- 12/01/2007 - 11:12am - 0 comments

BESCR v. Goodman

Date: 11/14/2007
Status: Pending
Disposition: Material Removed
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Illinois
Publication: Blog
On November 14, 2007, BESCR, a court reporting service company otherwise known as Eastwood-Stein Deposition Management, and two of its principals, sued Trisha Goodman, an Oklahoma-based court reporter, and others for statements appearing on Goodman's blog, "Let's Stop Eastwood-Stein."...
- 11/30/2007 - 10:43am - 0 comments

Egypt v. Abdul Kareem Nabeel Suliman

Date: 11/06/2006
Status: Pending
Disposition: Verdict (plaintiff)
Type: Criminal Charge
Jurisdiction: Egypt
Publication: Blog, Website
Egyptian law student Abdul Kareem Nabeel Suliman ("Kareem"), using the psuedonym Kareem Amer, posted a series of articles critizing the Islamic faith, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and Al-Azhar University to his blog and websites, Modern Discussion and Copts United. He was first...
- 11/30/2007 - 10:09am - 0 comments

Ubisoft v. Kyanka

Date: 11/15/2007
Status: Pending
Disposition: n/a
Type: Correspondence
Jurisdiction: Missouri
Publication: Forum
Richard "Lowtax" Kyanka is the webmaster of SomethingAwful, an online community forum with the catch phrase: "The Internet Makes You Stupid." A member of the community posted a link on the forum to a comic that depicted Jade Raymond engaged in...
- 11/29/2007 - 10:37pm - 2 comments

Jews for Jesus v. Google (letter)

Date: 05/05/2005
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Lawsuit Filed
Type: Correspondence
Jurisdiction: New York
Publication: Website
Jews for Jesus, an "international outreach ministry," sent Google a threat letter alleging trademark infringement over the Blogspot URL "jewsforjesus.blogspot.com." The blog, whose author wrote under the pseudonym "Whistle Blower," was apparently critical of Jews for Jesus. When Google did not respond,...
- 11/29/2007 - 10:28pm - 0 comments

Jews for Jesus v. Google

Date: 12/21/2005
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Settled (total)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: New York
Publication: Blog
Jews for Jesus, an "international outreach ministry," filed a lawsuit against Google alleging trademark infringement and other claims after Google refused to remove a Blogspot URL identified as "jewsforjesus.blogspot.com." The blog's author, who wrote under the pseudonym "Whistle Blower," was apparently critical...
- 11/29/2007 - 10:23pm - 0 comments

Al-Azhar University v. Abdul Kareem Nabeel Suliman

Date: 03/14/2006
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Verdict (plaintiff)
Type: Disciplinary Action
Jurisdiction: Egypt
Publication: Blog
Egyptian law student Abdul Kareem Nabeel Suliman ("Kareem"), using the psuedonym Kareem Amer, posted a series of articles critizing the Islamic faith, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and Al-Azhar University to his blog and websites, Modern Discussion and Copts United. Some of his posts critized the...
- 11/29/2007 - 10:08pm - 0 comments

2TheMart.com v. Doe

Date: 01/24/2001
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Subpoena Quashed
Type: Subpoena
Jurisdiction: Washington
Publication: Forum
2TheMart.com, Inc. was in the process of defending itself against a class-action lawsuit alleging that it misled investors. In doing so, the company claimed that it needed the identities of 23 Internet users who had posted comments on the Silicon Investor...
- 11/29/2007 - 10:03pm - 0 comments

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