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.

Massachusetts State Police v. Jean

Date: 02/14/2006
Status: Concluded
Disposition: n/a
Type: Correspondence
Jurisdiction: Massachusetts
Publication: Website
Mary Jean is the operator of Conte2006.com, which describes itself as being "designed for the sole purpose of stopping the re-election of [Worchester, MA] District Attorney John J. Conte." Jean posted a video to the site that showed state police engaging in...
- 11/29/2007 - 9:50pm - 0 comments

Bonlender v. Ensey

Date: 11/14/2007
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Settled (total)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Washington
Publication: Blog
Former Yakima City Councilman Ronald Bonlender filed a lawsuit claiming that his opponent's wife, Diane Ensey, anonymously defamed him and cast him in a false light on a blog. The lawsuit alleges that Diane Ensey published entries on a blog under...
- 11/29/2007 - 9:26pm - 0 comments

Parker v. Google

Date: 08/18/2004
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Dismissed (total)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Pennsylvania
Publication: Forum, Website
Gordon Parker sued Google in federal court in Pennsylvania in August 2004. According to court documents, Parker claimed that he published a website, "29 Reasons Not to be a Nice Guy." He alleged that an unknown Internet user copied Reason #6 and...
- 11/29/2007 - 9:17pm - 0 comments

Facebook v. Jon Swift

Date: 11/01/2007
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Withdrawn
Type: Correspondence
Jurisdiction: California
Publication: Blog, Social Network
Facebook terminated the profile of Jon Swift, a blogger writing under a pseudonym, for violating its terms of use prohibition on registering a profile under a fake name. Swift wrote about the profile termination and posted the email (from Aubrey, a Facebook...
- 11/29/2007 - 4:56pm - 0 comments

Mayhew v. Dunn

Date: 11/16/2007
Status: Pending
Disposition: Dismissed (total)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Vermont
Publication: Website
Chris Grotke and Lise LePage, co-founders and owners of iBrattleboro.com, a citizen journalism site based in Brattleboro, Vermont, were sued on November 16 for libel based on a comment submitted by one of the site's users. The lawsuit, brought by...
- 11/28/2007 - 10:32am - 0 comments

Mobilisa v. Doe

Date: 08/08/2005
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Settled (total), Subpoena Quashed
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Washington, Arizona
Publication: Email
In mid-2005, Mobilisa, Inc., a Washington company that provides wireless and mobile communication systems to government and military clients, filed a John Doe lawsuit in state court in Washington. According to a court opinion in related litigation in Arizona, the dispute arose...
- 11/28/2007 - 10:07am - 0 comments

Miranda v. Sykes

Date: 01/03/2005
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Settled (total)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Wisconsin
Publication: Blog
Charlie Sykes, a talk radio host and blogger for WTMJ-AM(620) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, wrote an essay on his blog that criticized Robert Miranda, editor of the Spanish Journal. According to press accounts of the dispute, Sykes alleged that...
- 11/26/2007 - 2:54pm - 0 comments

New School of Orlando v. McSween

Date: 10/26/2007
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Settled (total)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Florida
Publication: Blog, Email, Social Network
On October 26, 2007, the New School of Orlando sued Sonjia McSween, the parent of a former student, in Florida state court, asserting claims of libel, slander, and tortious interference with business relations. According to the New School's complaint, McSween...
- 11/20/2007 - 5:58pm - 0 comments

New School of Orlando Preparatory v. McSween (Letters)

Date: 09/06/2007
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Lawsuit Filed
Type: Correspondence
Jurisdiction: Florida
Publication: Blog
On September 6, 2007, counsel for New School of Orlando Preparatory, an Orlando private school, sent a cease-and-desist letter to Sonjia McSween, the parent of a former student. The letter claimed that statements appearing on McSween's blog, "Say NO to New School...
- 11/20/2007 - 2:45pm - 0 comments

Global Telemedia International v. Does 1-4

Date: 11/22/2000
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Dismissed (total)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: California
Publication: Forum
Global Telemedia International (GTMI), a publicly traded telecommunications company, sued a number of anonymous users who posted negative comments about the firm and its officers on the financial message board Raging Bull, alleging that the posts constituted trade libel and libel...
- 11/19/2007 - 7:54pm - 0 comments

Kavakich v. Chavla (Subpoena)

Date: 04/20/2004
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Settled (total)
Type: Subpoena
Jurisdiction: Pennsylvania
Publication: Forum
Terri and Munir Chavla, operators of a community forum called LocalScoop.net, along with three anonymous users of the site sued Mark Kavakich, the local chief of police, after Kavakich sent them a subpoena seeking the identities of users of the site. According...
- 11/17/2007 - 5:37pm - 0 comments

Kavakich v. Chavla

Date: 04/20/2004
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Settled (total)
Type: Correspondence
Jurisdiction: Pennsylvania
Publication: Forum
Terri and Munir Chavla, operators of a community forum called LocalScoop.net, along with three anonymous users of the site sued Mark Kavakich, the local chief of police. According to the lawsuit, Kavakich posted messages on the site threatening to uncover the identities...
- 11/17/2007 - 12:20pm - 0 comments

Sorenson's Ranch School v. MySpace

Date: 07/31/2006
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Material Removed, Withdrawn
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Utah
Publication: Social Network
Sorenson's Ranch School, a rehabilitation center and school for troubled youths in Koosharem, Utah, along with two of its officers filed a defamation lawsuit against MySpace and 10 unknown John Doe defendants claiming that a MySpace page had been set up in...
- 11/16/2007 - 6:36pm - 0 comments

Children of America, Inc. v. Magedson

Date: 03/05/2007
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Dismissed (partial), Settled (total)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Arizona
Publication: Forum
In March 2007, Children of America, Inc., a childcare provider, sued Ed Magedson and Xcentric Ventures, LLC, the owners and operators of the Ripoff Report website, for defamation in Arizona state court. Ripoff Report is a consumer reporting website that invites consumers...
- 11/15/2007 - 2:54pm - 0 comments

Gonzales v. Dunkle

Date: 08/28/2007
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Injunction Issued
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Pennsylvania
Publication: Blog, Website
On Aug. 28, 2007, the U.S. Justice Department filed a civil lawsuit against John Dunkle, an anti-abortion activist from Reading, Pennsylvania, seeking injunctive relief for alleged violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act ("FACE"), 18 U.S.C. §...
- 11/15/2007 - 2:08pm - 0 comments

Pivar v. Myers

Date: 08/16/2007
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Withdrawn
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: New York
Publication: Blog
In August 2007, Stuart Pivar sued science blogger P.Z. Meyers and Seed Media Group, LLC (SMG) for defamation in federal court in New York. According to the complaint, Pivar is an "industrial, inventor and scientist" who edited a book called Lifecode, which...
- 11/15/2007 - 2:05pm - 0 comments

Galveston Independent School District v. Tetley

Date: 10/29/2007
Status: Pending
Disposition: n/a
Type: Correspondence
Jurisdiction: Texas
Publication: Blog
On October 29, 2007, a lawyer for the Galveston Independent School District sent a cease-and-desist letter to Sandra Tetley, who operates a "watchdog" blog about the school district called GISD Watch. We have not been able to obtain a copy...
- 11/15/2007 - 2:03pm - 0 comments

Diebold, Inc. v. Online Policy Group

Date: 10/10/2003
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Settled (total)
Type: Correspondence
Jurisdiction: California
Publication: Website
Sometime in early 2003, an unknown person or persons obtained and reproduced on the Internet copies of an archive of email messages exchanged between employees of Diebold, a manufacturer of electronic voting machines. According to court documents, some emails in the archive...
- 11/14/2007 - 10:27am - 0 comments

Avis v. Turkewitz

Date: 10/23/2007
Status: Pending
Disposition: n/a
Type: Correspondence
Jurisdiction: New York
Publication: Blog
Eric Turkewitz is a personal injury attorney who operates a blog. On September 17, 2007, Turkewitz used the Avis and Hertz logos...
- 11/12/2007 - 7:24pm - 0 comments

Fitch v. Doe

Date: 02/04/2004
Status: Concluded
Disposition: n/a
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Maine
Publication: Email
In February 2004, Ronald Fitch filed a John Doe lawsuit in state court in Maine based on a fake e-mail that was circulated in his name. According to papers filed in the lawsuit, an anonymous person set up an e-mail account...
- 11/12/2007 - 6:31pm - 0 comments

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