The Tenth Circuit has ruled in the closely watched SCO v. Novell appeal, and while it upheld a judgment in favor of Novell for royalties due from The SCO Group, the appeals court remanded for a trial on the issue of ownership of the copyrights in the UNIX code that is at the heart of… Continue Reading
Monthly Archives: August 2009
No Special Rules for Internet Defamation, Says New York Judge
Posted in Online ContentIf you refer to a professional model a "skank" and a "ho," that’s defamation, not mere opinion or hyperbole, and it is no less defamatory for having been said on a blog, a Supreme Court judge in New York ruled in In re Application of Cohen (N.Y. Sup. Ct. N.Y. Cty Aug. 17, 2009). The… Continue Reading
Ninth Circuit Limits Standing under CAN-SPAM Act. Preempts Washington Anti-Spam Statute
Posted in Electronic Direct MarketingGordon v. Virtumundo (9th Cir. Aug. 6, 2009) concerns whether plaintiff James Gordon, a serial CAN-SPAM Act litigant and “professional plaintiff,” had standing to bring a civil action for damages under the Act. There have been inconsistent rulings on CAN-SPAM standing in the lower courts, several of them involving Gordon. Compare the lower court ruling… Continue Reading
New Jersey Appellate Court Says, Take “Loving Care” with Employee Personal Communications
Posted in E-mailIn Stengart v. Loving Care Agency, 2009 N.J. Super. LEXIS 143 (App. Div. June 26, 2009), a New Jersey appellate court refused to enforce a provision in an employer’s electronic communications policy that purported to give the employer ownership of all employee personal communications on the employer’s system. The particular messages at issue were sent… Continue Reading