Sotomayor Lays Marker on Privacy
In United States v. Jones, the Supreme Court found the warrantless use of a GPS device to track a party’s whereabouts violated the 4th Amendment. What is notable about the case was the debate, was a concurring opinion by Justice Sotomayor which anticipated future debates regarding online privacy. Specifically, Sotomayor raised the question of whether an individual has a “reasonable expectation of privacy in information voluntarily disclosed to third parties,” citing the vast expanse of information disclosed via internet and mobile commerce.
Mega Rut-Roh, DOJ Indictment Spells Trouble for Kim Dotcom
Mega Upload, the file sharing site that accounted for four percent of ALL internet traffic and had recently released a video featuring Kim Kardashian, Kanye West and P-Diddy among others literally singing their praises for the site, is no more. The Justice Department’s shutdown of the file sharing site is based on allegations that the site knowingly trafficked in infringing content and even paid for it, which copyright experts believe is a damning fact. Equally alarming, however, is the Justice Department’s threat to erase all files, including legal content rightfully posted by third parties. The Electronic Frontier Foundation is actively seeking a solution to enable lawful users to retrieve their content.
| RESOURCES | US v Jones; Sonia Sotomayor’s Heartening Defense of Privacy (Reason Jan. 24, 2012); A Supreme Court Justice’s Radical Proposal Regarding The Privacy of Your Google Searches, Facebook Account & Phone Records, The Not So Private Parts (Jan 23, 2012); Seventy-two page Mega Upload indictment along with DOJ Press Release; Megaboned? Long odds against legal success, say law profs, Why Feds Smashed Megaupload and Megaupload’s hosting company teams up with EFF to identify legal files (Ars Technica). |
Cyber Report 