November 20, 2009

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.

United States v. Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, USA, Inc.

Date: 05/20/2004	Status: Pending	Disposition: Convicted
Type: Criminal Charge	Location: New Jersey	Publication: Website

On March 2, 2006, Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) and six of its members were convicted of terrorism and Internet stalking under the Animal Enterprise Protection Act. The group was charged with engaging in various forms of harassment and intimidation...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 11/20/2009 - 11:11am - 0 comments

Huntingdon Life Sciences, Inc. v. Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, USA Inc.

Date: 06/03/2003	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Dismissed (partial); Injunction Issued
Type: Lawsuit	Location: California	Publication: Website

Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) and one of its employees filed a lawsuit in California state court against Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, USA (SHAC), the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), and animal rights activists associated with both groups. The plaintiffs sought an injunction against...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 11/18/2009 - 6:50pm - 0 comments

Florida v. RateMyCop.com

Date: 05/01/2008	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Subpoena Enforced
Type: Subpoena	Location: Florida	Publication: Forum

The Tallahassee Police Department subpoenaed records from RateMyCop.com after an anonymous user posted the name, address, and telephone number of a Tallahassee police officer on the site, according to Wired. When the authorities obtained identifying information for the poster,...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 11/18/2009 - 5:23pm - 0 comments

Florida v. Brayshaw

Date: 05/01/2008	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Dismissed (total); Subpoena Enforced
Type: Criminal Charge	Location: Florida	Publication: Forum

Florida state authorities charged Robert Brayshaw with a misdemeanor for violating Fla. Stat. § 843.17 after he anonymously posted the name, address, and telephone number of a Tallahassee Police Department officer on RateMyCop.com. Section 843.17 prohibits publication of a law...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 11/18/2009 - 5:22pm - 0 comments

Jenzabar, Inc. v. Long Bow Group, Inc.

Date: 05/14/2007	Status: Pending	Disposition: Dismissed (partial)
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Massachusetts	Publication: Website

In 2007, Jenzabar, a company that makes software systems for colleges and universities, sued Long Bow Group, the maker of a documentary film about the 1989 student protests at Tiananmen Square called The Gate of Heavenly Peace. The...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 11/11/2009 - 12:03pm - 0 comments

Taylor Building Corp. v. Benfield

Date: 08/05/2004	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Dismissed (partial); Material Removed; Settled (total)
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Ohio	Publication: Website

On August 5, 2004, Taylor Building Corporation of America, a residential construction business, sued Eric Benfield in Ohio federal court alleging libel, tortious interference, and misappropriation of trade dress. The dispute revolved around Benfield's publication of a self-described "gripe site" that included...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 11/09/2009 - 5:29pm - 0 comments

North Dakota v. Nodland

Date: 09/17/2009	Status: Pending	Disposition: n/a
Type: Subpoena	Location: North Dakota	Publication: Blog

During a lawsuit brought against North Dakota and the North Dakota's Workforce and Safety Insurance (WSI) by Dr. James Long , the State subpoenaed Chad Nodland, a blogger who maintains NorthDecoder.com. In the lawsuit, Long claimed that he had been unfairly dismissed...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 11/09/2009 - 4:49pm - 0 comments

Beverly Stayart v. Yahoo!, Inc. et al

Date: 02/05/2009	Status: Pending	Disposition: Dismissed (total)
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Wisconsin	Publication: Website

In February 2009, Beverly Stayart filed a lawsuit against Yahoo! and two other internet services, Altavista and AdultFriendFinder, for unauthorized use of her name on the Internet. She claimed false designation of origin and false endorsement under the Lanham Act, as well...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 11/11/2009 - 10:28am - 0 comments

Smith-Green Community School Corp. v. T.V. & M.K. (minors)

Date: 01/01/2009	Status: Pending	Disposition: Lawsuit Filed
Type: Disciplinary Action	Location: Indiana	Publication: Social Network

High School Principal Austin Couch suspended two female high school sophomores from participating in extracurricular athletics after Couch obtained sexually-suggestive photos that the students took of themselves and posted to MySpace. The students, T.V. and M.K., subsequently filed a class action...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 11/04/2009 - 6:13pm - 0 comments

Straub v. Hair Transplant Network

Date: 07/24/2008	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Withdrawn
Type: Lawsuit	Location: California	Publication: Forum; Website

Dr. Paul Straub filed a defamation lawsuit against Media Visions Inc., the company behind HairTransplantNetwork.com, on the grounds that he was removed from the website's recommended doctors list and that critical comments were posted on the website's forum. HairTransplantNetwork.com operates two affiliate websites,...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 11/04/2009 - 6:04pm - 0 comments

Jones v. Above The Law

Date: 10/27/2009	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Withdrawn
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Florida	Publication: Blog

In October 2009, Donald Marvin Jones, a law professor at the University of Miami School of Law, sued David Lat and David Minkin, editor and publisher of the popular law gossip blog Above the Law (ATL), as well as ATL's parent company,...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 11/04/2009 - 5:55pm - 0 comments

New York v. Burgoyne

Date: 01/01/2009	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Convicted; Subpoena Enforced
Type: Criminal Charge	Location: New York	Publication: Forum

Cindy Burgoyne pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor after posting confidential information about grand jury proceedings on discussion forum on the Times Herald-Record's website, using the pseudonym "Nancy Drew." Burgoyne had served on the grand jury investigating the death of a suspect...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 11/02/2009 - 1:57pm - 0 comments

Intellect Art Media Inc. v. Milewski

Date: 12/15/2008	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Dismissed (partial)
Type: Lawsuit	Location: New York	Publication: Website

On December 15, 2008, Intellect Art Media, Inc., a Massachusetts-based company that operates a college-level summer program called Swiss Finance Academy, sued Mathew Milewski, a student at Fordham University; Xcentric Ventures, LLC, operators of the website RipoffReport.com; and five anonymous...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 10/30/2009 - 12:33pm - 0 comments

Butler University v. Zimmerman

Date: 01/08/2009	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Material Removed; Subpoena Enforced; Withdrawn
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Indiana	Publication: Blog

In January 2009, Butler University filed a "John Doe" defamation lawsuit against the pseudonymous author of the TrueBU blog, who signed his posts "Soodo Nym." The author later was identified as Butler University student Jess Zimmerman. The complaint...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 10/30/2009 - 11:01am - 0 comments

Platinum Equity v. San Diego Reader

Date: 06/26/2009	Status: Pending	Disposition: n/a
Type: Correspondence	Location: California	Publication: Print; Website

Platinum Equity, LLC, the parent company of the Union-Tribune newspaper, sent a letter to the San Diego Reader, another local newspaper with a website edition, cautioning them against publishing a story on two lawsuits charging Platinum with workplace sexual harassment....

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 10/26/2009 - 6:17pm - 0 comments

Washington Redskins v. Steinberg

Date: 10/01/2009	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Material Removed
Type: Correspondence	Location: District of Columbia	Publication: Blog

According to Techdirt, a representative of the Washington Redskins football team requested that The Washington Post remove photos from Dan Steinberg's Post-hosted D.C. Sports Bog because of alleged violation of the Redskins' credentialing policy. Steinberg published a post about...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 10/26/2009 - 11:42am - 0 comments

Planned Parenthood of Columbia/Willamette, Inc. v. American Coalition of Life Activists

Date: 10/26/1995	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Verdict (plaintiff)
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Oregon	Publication: Print; Website

Planned Parenthood and the other plaintiffs sued the American Coalition of Life Activists (ACLA) and others for alleged violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE) and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). Specifically, the plaintiffs objected...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 10/26/2009 - 10:10am - 0 comments

Miami Herald v. Bill Cooke d.b.a. Random Pixels

Date: 08/20/2009	Status: Pending	Disposition: n/a
Type: Correspondence	Location: Florida	Publication: Blog

On August 20, 2009, counsel for the Miami Herald sent a cease and desist letter to Bill Cooke, the blogger behind Random Pixels, accusing him of copyright infringement. The Herald alleged that Random Pixels was reproducing entire articles and ...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 11/12/2009 - 1:08pm - 0 comments

Dolan v. Cityfile

Date: 07/27/2009	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Retraction Issued
Type: Lawsuit	Location: New York	Publication: Blog

James Dolan, Cablevision Systems Corporation, and Madison Square Garden sued the blog Cityfile: New York, its publisher, and one of its bloggers over a July 2009 post entitled "Jim Dolan to Kill Christmas in July?" The complaint (¶...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 10/21/2009 - 7:24pm - 0 comments

Advanced Armament Corp. v. Garner

Date: 05/06/2008	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Settled (total)
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Oregon	Publication: Forum

Advanced Armament Corp., a Georgia manufacturer of silencers for firearms, sued Ian Hale Garner in Oregon over statements he posted on Internet chat rooms for gun enthusiasts. Advanced Armament brought suit in federal court in May 2008 seeking damages and injunctive relief...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 10/21/2009 - 5:47pm - 0 comments

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Recent Threats Added to the CMLP Database

United States v. Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, USA, Inc.

Huntingdon Life Sciences, Inc. v. Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, USA Inc.

Florida v. RateMyCop.com

Florida v. Brayshaw

Jenzabar, Inc. v. Long Bow Group, Inc.

Taylor Building Corp. v. Benfield

North Dakota v. Nodland

Beverly Stayart v. Yahoo!, Inc. et al

Smith-Green Community School Corp. v. T.V. & M.K. (minors)

Straub v. Hair Transplant Network

Jones v. Above The Law

New York v. Burgoyne

Intellect Art Media Inc. v. Milewski

Butler University v. Zimmerman

Platinum Equity v. San Diego Reader

Washington Redskins v. Steinberg

Planned Parenthood of Columbia/Willamette, Inc. v. American Coalition of Life Activists

Miami Herald v. Bill Cooke d.b.a. Random Pixels

Dolan v. Cityfile

Advanced Armament Corp. v. Garner

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Recent Threats Added to the CMLP Database

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Recent Lawsuit Threats

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