Claiming there is “a dangerous movement by social media companies to silence conservative viewpoints and ideas,” Texas Governor Jim Abbott (R) signed H.B. 20 (An Act relating to censorship of or certain other interference with digital expression, including expression on social media platforms or through electronic mail messages). The Act is strictly an act of…
On May 24, 2021, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 7072 (An act relating to social media platforms) under which (as described by Gov. DeSantis): Floridians treated unfairly by Big Tech platforms will have the right to sue companies that violate this law — and win monetary damages. This reform safeguards the rights of every…
Throughout the Trump presidency, there have been calls for Twitter to act on the President’s tweets that were in apparent violation of its terms of service such as past tweets threatening nuclear war against North Korea and a photoshopped video showing him beating up CNN. Tweets by Trump and other world leaders led Twitter to…
On May 23rd the Justice Department returned a superseding indictment against Julian Assange that not only includes and expands on the prior claim stemming from an attempt to hack into the Pentagon’s Secret Internet Protocol Network but adds sixteen additional charges stemming from obtaining and publishing classified information. Counts 5, 18: Attempted Unauthorized Obtaining and…
1. Who is Devin Nunes? Devin Nunes (R) has represented the Fresno area in Congress since 2003. Nunes was Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and gained notoriety for his highly partisan handling of the Committee’s investigation to allegations into Russian interference in the 2016 elections. Nunes narrowly escaped defeat in 2018 in a Republican…
There is a growing movement within the Trump administration to take on social media companies over perceived anti-conservative bias, which is triggering criticism from free speech advocates.;
Four very closely watched cases in separate areas of the law will be argued within a 50-day period that ends April 17th. Each case could yield a very significant ruling impacting internet law. February 27: United States v. Microsoft The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard argument in a dispute over a federal criminal subpoena for…
Today I received the letter below from David Warrington of LeClair Ryan on behalf of Xcentric Ventures LLC, which operates RipoffReport.com. According to Warrington, RipoffReport is in the pre-complaint stage of a claim based on alleged anti-competitive busines practices and a conspiracy to damage the business of Xcenetric in its operations of the RipoffReport.com website…
The Gawker Effect with Techdirt’s Mike Masnick Listen In March 2016, a Florida jury returned a $140 million verdict in favor of Terry Bollea aka Hulk Hogan against Gawker Media for publishing a tape of him having sex with the wife of his best friend (shock jock Bubba the Love Sponge) (see CLBR #264).…
CLBR #270: Venkat, Data Scraping and Daily Stormer Focal Law Group’s Venkat Balasubramani joins us to discuss two recent developments: Dating Scraping after the hiQ Labs Decision The decision in hiQ Labs, Inc. v LinkedIn, Inc., No. 3:17-cv-03301-EMC (N.D. Cal. Aug. 14, 2017) in which the court enjoined LinkedIn from blocking access to publicly available…
The Daily Stormer is a Neo-Nazi web forum on the internet that takes its name from the Nazi Party’s tabloid newspaper Der Stürmer. The Southern Poverty Law Center describes the Daily Stormer as a website dedicated to spreading anti-Semitism, neo-Nazism, and white nationalism, primarily through guttural hyperbole and epithet-laden stories about topics like alleged Jewish world control and…
As we reported earlier, the Justice Department served a warrant concerning disruptj20.org on its hosting provider DreamHost seeking records of all visitors to the site, including all communications. Rather than negotiate, the Justice Department moved to compel and DreamHost opposed the motion asserting that In essence, the Search Warrant not only aims to identify the political…
I encourage you to check out Kyle Fitzpatrick’s article on the DreamHost Warrant – The Government Is Seeking Information on Anti-Trump Website Visitors — and People Are Concerned. We posted on this controversy last week. In the article, Fitzpatrick quotes me on the following points: Kelley believes people should be worried about the government requesting this…
It’s Time to Speak Up to Save Your Internet Today is the Internet-Wide Day of Action to Save Net Neutrality, in which more than 50,000 people, sites, and organizations, including Amazon, Etsy Facebook, Google, Kickstarter, Mozilla, Netflix, OK Cupid, Reddit, Twitter and Vimeo, will demonstrate to oppose the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) plan to…
“Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press” Director Brian Knappenberger In March 2016, a Florida jury returned a $140 million verdict in favor of Terry Bollea aka Hulk Hogan against Gawker Media for publishing a tape of him having sex with the wife of his best friend (shock jock Bubba the Love Sponge). As the verdict…
Cyber Report 