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.

Eros, LLC v. Simon

Date: 10/24/2007
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Material Removed, Settled (total)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: New York
Publication: Virtual World
Eros, LLC and five other US-based plaintiffs who sell virtual objects in the virtual world known as Second Life filed a lawsuit against Thomas Simon, a New York man who they allege is selling unathorized copies of their objects to...
- 11/12/2007 - 5:09pm - 0 comments

Fandino v. Lebanon Truth

Date: 09/28/2007
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Withdrawn
Type: Other
Jurisdiction: Oregon
Publication: Blog
The Lebanon, Oregon school district has been in turmoil for many years. On August 1, 2007, three members of the school board placed the superintendent on administrative leave pending an investigation. In response, an anonymous blogger going by "Lebanon Truth" ("LT") started...
- 11/12/2007 - 1:48pm - 0 comments

Experian Information Solutions v. Sheehan

Date: 08/18/1997
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Injunction Denied, Injunction Issued
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Washington
Publication: Website
William A. Sheehan sued a number of credit reporting agencies, including Experian, in federal court in Washington, alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act. In that litigation, Experian asserted a counterclaim against Sheehan for defamation, commercial disparagement and other...
- 11/12/2007 - 12:37pm - 0 comments

Lackner v. Sanchez

Date: 08/30/2005
Status: Pending
Disposition: n/a
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Texas
Publication: Forum
Robert Sanchez lost an election for City Commissioner in Brownsville, Texas, but kept the forum on his campaign website active after the election. On that forum, users posted allegedly libelous material about Carolyn Lackner Baird, a jewelry store owner connected to Sanchez's...
- 11/12/2007 - 11:55am - 0 comments

Universal Music v. Lenz

Date: 06/04/2007
Status: Pending
Disposition: n/a
Type: Correspondence
Jurisdiction: Pennsylvania
Publication: Website
In July 2007, Stephanie Lenz sued Universal Music in federal district court in California for claims arising out Universal's sending a DMCA takedown notice to YouTube regarding a video posted by Lenz. According to Lenz's complaint, she posted a video...
- 11/07/2007 - 10:32am - 0 comments

VeriResume v. Marshall (Email)

Date: 10/30/2007
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Lawsuit Filed
Type: Correspondence
Jurisdiction: Washington
Publication: Blog, User Comment, Website
Tabatha Marshall runs a blog and website at TabathaMarshall.com, on which she writes about suspicious online job solicitations and so-called "phishing" practices. Part of her site consists of the "PhishBucket," a "directory of companies / individuals suspected of...
- 11/06/2007 - 3:43pm - 2 comments

CAIR v. Whitehead (Letter)

Date: 01/06/2004
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Lawsuit Filed
Type: Correspondence
Jurisdiction: Virginia
Publication: Website
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) sent a cease-and-desist letter to Andrew Whitehead, claiming that Whitehead had made defamatory statements about the organization on his website. The letter stated that CAIR would file a lawsuit against Whitehead unless Whitehead agreed to...
- 11/04/2007 - 3:37pm - 0 comments

Internet Solutions v. Marshall

Date: 11/01/2007
Status: Pending
Disposition: Dismissed (total)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Florida
Publication: Blog
On November 1, 2007, Internet Solutions, a company that runs a number of employment recruiting and Internet advertising businesses, including VeriResume, sued blogger Tabatha Marshall in federal court in Florida. Marshall runs a blog and website at www.tabathamarshall.com, on which...
- 11/03/2007 - 5:14pm - 2 comments

Khalaji v. Derakhshan (Letter)

Date: 07/27/2007
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Lawsuit Filed
Type: Correspondence
Jurisdiction: Canada
Publication: Blog
Blogger Hossein Derakhshan operates two blogs in English and Farsi at www.hoder.com and www.hoder.com/weblog. He wrote a series of blog posts in 2005 criticizing Mohammed Mehdi Khalaji, a fellow at the Washington Instute for Near East Policy. On...
- 10/31/2007 - 12:00pm - 0 comments

Khalaji v. Derakhshan

Date: 10/19/2007
Status: Pending
Disposition: n/a
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Canada
Publication: Blog
In October 2007, Mohammed Mehdi Khalaji, a fellow of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, filed a defamation lawsuit in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice against prominent Iranian-born, Canadian-based blogger Hossein Derakhshan. Khalaji alleges that, in a number of posts...
- 10/31/2007 - 11:16am - 0 comments

Video Professor v. Justin Leonard

Date: 07/11/2007
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Lawsuit Filed
Type: Subpoena
Jurisdiction: Nevada
Publication: Forum
Justin Leonard runs the websites infomercialratings.com and infomercialscams.com. These websites give consumers the opportunity to voice their criticisms and defenses of various products and services. Pages on these websites are devoted to criticisms and defenses of Video...
- 10/29/2007 - 4:44pm - 0 comments

Warman v. Beaumont

Date: 01/06/2005
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Verdict (plaintiff)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Canada
Publication: Forum
Over a two-year period, Jessica Beaumont wrote and published over 1000 posts on a white supremacist forum called Stormfront White Nationalist Community, using the pseudonym "Jessy Destruction." Here are some illustrations of her alleged postings: Regarding blacks moving to...
- 10/29/2007 - 9:44am - 0 comments

Warman v. Fournier

Date: 09/10/2007
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Lawsuit Filed
Type: Correspondence
Jurisdiction: Canada
Publication: Forum, Website
Richard Warman is a Canadian human rights lawyer based in Ottawa. Formerly with the Canadian Human Rights Commission, Warman is best known for initiating human rights complaints against members of white supremacist and neo-Nazi movements for engaging in hate speech on the...
- 10/28/2007 - 10:18pm - 0 comments

Fox News v. McCain

Date: 10/25/2007
Status: Pending
Disposition: n/a
Type: Correspondence
Jurisdiction:
Publication: Broadcast, Website
Senator John McCain's presidential campaign broadcast an advertisement on television and on McCain's website featuring an eighteen-second video clip excerpted from the GOP presidential debate that had been broadcast on the Fox News Channel the week before. In the...
- 10/26/2007 - 4:37pm - 0 comments

Video Professor v. Does

Date: 08/16/2007
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Withdrawn
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Colorado
Publication: Forum
Justin Leonard runs the websites infomercialratings.com and infomercialscams.com. These websites give users of infomerical products the opportunity to voice their criticisms and defenses of these products and associated sales tactics. Pages on these websites are devoted to...
- 10/26/2007 - 10:01am - 0 comments

Cosby v. Channel101

Date: 06/01/2005
Status: Concluded
Disposition: n/a
Type: Correspondence
Jurisdiction: California
Publication: Website
Justin Roiland created four episodes of a video series called "House of Cosbys." The series tells the story of a Bill Cosby fan who clones multiple Cosbys, each of whom has a special power. The series aired on the online TV website,...
- 10/25/2007 - 3:21pm - 0 comments

Loan Center of California v. Krowne (Email)

Date: 04/18/2007
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Lawsuit Filed
Type: Correspondence
Jurisdiction: Georgia
Publication: Blog
Krowne operates The Mortgage Lender Implode-O-Meter (ml-implode.com, mortgageimplode.com), a Web site that posts information about mortgage lending companies that have gone out of business or are expected to go out of business. On April 18, 2007, Krowne posted an e-mail from an...
- 10/25/2007 - 12:45pm - 0 comments

Cha v. Flamm

Date: 08/31/2007
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Dismissed (total)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: California
Publication: Print, Website
In 2001, Kwang Yul Cha, a Korean fertility researcher and fertility clinic operator, co-wrote a paper entitled "Does prayer influence the success of in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer? Report of a masked, randomized trial." The controversial paper, which appeared in the Journal...
- 10/25/2007 - 9:59am - 0 comments

Snyder v. Phelps

Date: 06/05/2006
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Dismissed (partial), Dismissed (total), Verdict (plaintiff)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Maryland
Publication: Verbal, Website
The Westboro Baptist Church is a fundamentalist Christian church that contends that God kills soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan as punishment for America'stolerance of homosexuality and for the presence of gays in the U.S. military. The church operates a number of...
- 10/25/2007 - 9:34am - 0 comments

OMDA Oil & Gas, Inc. v. Porcari

Date: 03/01/2007
Status: Pending
Disposition: Injunction Denied, Injunction Issued
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Texas
Publication: Forum
OMDA Oil & Gas sued Arthur J. Porcari after he posted comments on private investor boards including the Yahoo! OMDA Investor Chat Board. In June 2004, Porcari, a large stockholder of publicly traded shares in OMDA, told the Chairman of OMDA Adam...
- 10/25/2007 - 9:13am - 0 comments

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