February 08, 2012

Recent Threats Added to the CMLP 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.

United States v. Megaupload Limited

Date: 01/05/2012	Status: Pending	Disposition: n/a
Type: Criminal Charge	Location: Virginia	Publication: Website

On January 5, 2012, a grand jury convened in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia issued an indictment against Megaupload Limited, its affiliate Vestor Limited, and principals Kim Dotcom (a resident of New Zealand and Hong Kong,...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 02/06/2012 - 4:48pm - 0 comments

Johns-Byrne Company v. TechnoBuffalo

Date: 09/01/2011	Status: Pending	Disposition: n/a
Type: Subpoena	Location: Illinois	Publication: Blog

On September 1, 2011, Johns-Byrne Company filed a Rule 224 action in Illinois state court. Rule 224 allows a party to conduct limited discovery, before filing a lawsuit, in order to determine the identity of the party that allegedly caused...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 02/01/2012 - 11:31am - 0 comments

Hard Drive Productions v. Does

Date: 09/27/2011	Status: Pending	Disposition: n/a
Type: Lawsuit	Location: District of Columbia	Publication: Other

On September 27, 2011, adult-film company Hard Drive Productions filed a lawsuit in federal court against 1,495 anonymous defendants. The complaint alleged that the defendants were all involved in transferring one of Hard Drive's copyrighted films through the file-sharing protocol...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 02/01/2012 - 11:08am - 0 comments

Ron Paul 2012 v. Does 1-10

Date: 01/13/2012	Status: Pending	Disposition: n/a
Type: Lawsuit	Location: California	Publication: Social Network

On January 13, 2012, Ron Paul's presidential campaign organization sued anonymous YouTube users in federal court over a video posted on YouTube by user "NHLiberty4Paul" on January 4, 2012. The video is critical of then-Republican presidential candidate Jon Hunstman,...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 02/07/2012 - 9:28am - 0 comments

Jones v. Dirty World, LLC

Date: 12/23/2009	Status: Pending	Disposition: Lawsuit Filed
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Kentucky	Publication: Blog

On December 23, 2009, a Jane Doe filed a lawsuit in federal court. The plaintiff intended to sue TheDirty.com, alleging that a number of posts on the blog (self-described as a "reality blogger . . . all about gossip...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 01/13/2012 - 9:09am - 0 comments

Fraley v. Facebook

Date: 03/18/2011	Status: Pending	Disposition: n/a
Type: Lawsuit	Location: California	Publication: Social Network

On March 18, 2011, five plaintiffs (including two minors) sued Facebook in California state court. The plaintiffs claimed to represent the class of people injured by Facebook's introduction of a "Sponsored Story" system, through which Facebook turns certain types of user...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 01/04/2012 - 2:02pm - 0 comments

Shawnee Mission East High School v. Sullivan

Date: 11/21/2011	Status: Concluded	Disposition: n/a
Type: Disciplinary Action	Location: Kansas	Publication: Micro-blog

The Shawnee Mission East High School in Kansas on Nov. 22, 2011, ordered Emma Sullivan, a student, to write an apology to Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback after Sullivan tweeted criticism of Brownback during a school field trip to the Kansas state capitol....

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 12/05/2011 - 5:20pm - 0 comments

United States v. Puerto 80 Projects, S.L.U.

Date: 01/31/2011	Status: Pending	Disposition: n/a
Type: Police Activity	Location: New York	Publication: Website

Puerto 80 is a solely-owned limited liability company based in Arteixo, Spain. The company operates a website entitled Roja Directa, which provides a chronological listing of sporting events with links to websites that are streaming live broadcasts of those events over the...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 12/05/2011 - 9:20am - 0 comments

Ingraham v. Gray

Date: 08/18/2010	Status:	Disposition: n/a
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Maine	Publication: Blog

In August 2010, married couple Alexis and Brett Ingraham sued blogger Madeline Gray for defamation based on statements posted on Gray's website (NickerNews.net) and distributed via flyers. The Ingrahams' alleged that in a series of blog posts in 2010, Gray accused them...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 12/05/2011 - 4:33pm - 0 comments

Pan Am Systems v. Hardenberg

Date: 09/06/2011	Status:	Disposition: n/a
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Maine	Publication: Print; Other

In September 2011, Pan Am Systems, Inc. (a railway transportation company), its subsidiary Springfield Terminal Railway Co., and its former President and CEO David Fink sued Atlantic Northeast Rails & Ports (ANRP) for defamation and false light. The complaint also named...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 12/05/2011 - 9:00am - 0 comments

Milwaukee Police Dept. v. Kristyna Wentz-Graff

Date: 11/02/2011	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Withdrawn
Type: Criminal Charge	Location: Wisconsin	Publication:

Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel photographer Kristyna Wentz-Graff was arrested by Milwaukee police while Wentz-Graff was photographing a protest by University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee students at the school's campus on Nov. 2, 2011. Wentz-Graff, a three-time Wisconsin "Photographer of the Year," was later released...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 11/07/2011 - 4:52pm - 0 comments

Apple, Inc. v. Odioworks, LLC

Date: 11/01/2008	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Dismissed (total)
Type: Correspondence	Location: California	Publication: Wiki

In November 2008, Apple, Inc. threatened legal action against Odioworks, LLC, a corporation that operates public wiki site BluWiki, if Odioworks did not take down information published on BluWiki about how to use an iPod or iPhone with third-party software. Odioworks...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 11/07/2011 - 4:27pm - 0 comments

Obsidian Finance Group v. Cox

Date: 01/14/2011	Status: Pending	Disposition: Dismissed (partial); Verdict (plaintiff)
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Oregon	Publication: Blog

On January 14, 2011, Obsidian Finance Group, LLC, and Obsidian Senior Principal Kevin Padrick filed a defamation suit in Oregon federal court against blogger Crystal Cox. The complaint alleged that Cox had written a number of false and defamatory statements...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 02/07/2012 - 1:08pm - 0 comments

Antioch University v. The Antioch Papers

Date: 02/29/2008	Status: Concluded	Disposition: n/a
Type: Correspondence	Location: Ohio	Publication: Website

The Antioch Papers, an investigative journalism and media arts website, maintains and "open archive for primary source materials that document the institutional life of Antioch College and by extension Antioch University." Source materials have been gathered through publicly accessible archives and through...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 11/04/2011 - 9:06am - 0 comments

Justin Bieber v. FreeBieber.org

Date: 10/25/2011	Status: Pending	Disposition: n/a
Type: Correspondence	Location: California	Publication: Website

Fight for the Future is an advocacy organization focusing on free speech and consumer rights issues related to intellectual property and technology. The organization is opposed to Senate Bill S.978, introduced in May 2011, which alters the criminal penalties for copyright...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 11/01/2011 - 10:15am - 0 comments

Darm v. Craig

Date: 07/01/2011	Status: Pending	Disposition: n/a
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Oregon	Publication: Social Network

In July 2011, medical spa doctor Jerrold "Jerry" Darm sued blogger Tiffany Craig for defamation in Multnomah County Circuit Court in Oregon. Darm alleged that Craig defamed him when she wrote about a 2001 disciplinary order against the doctor from...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 10/12/2011 - 5:14pm - 0 comments

Milwaukee Police Dept. v. Clint Fillinger

Date: 09/21/2011	Status: Pending	Disposition: n/a
Type: Criminal Charge	Location: Wisconsin	Publication: Broadcast

On September 21, 2011, Clint Fillinger, a photojournalist, was arrested for resisting and obstructing an officer after police confronted Fillinger while he was attempting to film at the scene of a house firm in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Fillinger, a 68-year-old journalist with 45...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 10/06/2011 - 3:53pm - 0 comments

Admission Consultants, Inc. v. McGraw Hill Publishing Co.

Date: 08/22/2007	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Subpoena Enforced
Type: Lawsuit	Location: New York	Publication: Forum

Admission Consultants, Inc. petitioned the New York Supreme Court to order McGraw Hill, publishers of the BusinessWeek "B-School" forums, to disclose the registration information of several BusinessWeek forum posters. The posters allegedly defamed Admission Consultants in their posts. On October 3,...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 09/29/2011 - 1:13pm - 0 comments

Snyder v. Creative Loafing, Inc.

Date: 11/24/2010	Status: Pending	Disposition: n/a
Type: Lawsuit	Location: District of Columbia; New York	Publication: Blog; Print

On November 19, 2010, the Washington City Paper published "The Cranky Redskins Fan's Guide to Dan Snyder." The article levied a wide array of complaints about Snyder, owner of the Washington Redskins NFL franchise since 1999. The complaints...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 09/02/2011 - 1:39pm - 0 comments

Bay Area Rapid Transit v. Protesters

Date: 08/11/2011	Status: Pending	Disposition: n/a
Type: Police Activity	Location: California	Publication: Email; Forum; Social Network; Verbal

According to SF Weekly, on July 3, 2011, a homeless man named Charles Hill was shot to death by police officers for the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District ("BART"). Two and a half years earlier, BART police used...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 09/08/2011 - 9:23am - 0 comments

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Recent Threats Added to the CMLP Database

United States v. Megaupload Limited

Johns-Byrne Company v. TechnoBuffalo

Hard Drive Productions v. Does

Ron Paul 2012 v. Does 1-10

Jones v. Dirty World, LLC

Fraley v. Facebook

Shawnee Mission East High School v. Sullivan

United States v. Puerto 80 Projects, S.L.U.

Ingraham v. Gray

Pan Am Systems v. Hardenberg

Milwaukee Police Dept. v. Kristyna Wentz-Graff

Apple, Inc. v. Odioworks, LLC

Obsidian Finance Group v. Cox

Antioch University v. The Antioch Papers

Justin Bieber v. FreeBieber.org

Darm v. Craig

Milwaukee Police Dept. v. Clint Fillinger

Admission Consultants, Inc. v. McGraw Hill Publishing Co.

Snyder v. Creative Loafing, Inc.

Bay Area Rapid Transit v. Protesters

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Recent Threats Added to the CMLP Database

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