Law
Woot Mocks AP's DMCA Copyright Bullying
The DMCA copyright battle between the Associated Press and the Drudge Retort took place two years ago, but Woot CEO Matt Rutledge remembered it in a blog post this week. Rutledge noticed that when AP covered the sale of his company to Amazon.Com, it quoted from his blog. The AP, we can't thank you enough for looking our way. You see, when we showed off our good news on Wednesday afternoon, we expected we'd get a little bit of attention. But when we found your little newsy thing you do, we ... (read more)Thousands of Consumers Sue Debt Collectors
The web site Credit Reporting & Debt Collection News claims that Chrystal A. Snow's $8.1 million debt collector judgment is a function of Texas law that would not be possible under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA): The FDCPA does NOT allow for PUNITIVE damages unless it is a CLASS ACTION. The lack of punitive damages is a MAJOR flaw in the FDCPA. Debt collectors and debt buyers have NOTHING to worry about in MOST states, with California and Texas being notable exceptions. ... (read more)Blogger Suggests Debt Collection Story is Bogus
Lambert Strether, the founder of the liberal blog Corrente Wire, has suggested that my story on the woman who sued the debt collector might be a hoax: The story (cross-posted here) is sourced to a phone interview with the woman's lawyer, Ross Teter. The best I can find in a quick search is this court docket item. I would want to make very, very certain that this story isn't really a way of propagating links to the "credit repair" services and forums, whose links appear further down in the ... (read more)Woman Sues Debt Collector, Wins $8.1 Million
At courthouses across the United States, it has become increasingly common during the economic downturn for lawsuits to be filed against consumers to collect old debts. Lawyers who specialize in the practice are filing thousands of suits on behalf of large firms that have acquired debts from other companies. Although most people don't fight the suits and lose them by default, a Dallas woman bucked the trend last October. Chrystal A. Snow challenged the validity of a $9,000 debt in a Dallas ... (read more)AP Keeps Accused Rapist's Name Secret
The Associated Press reported today on a 51-year-old New Jersey man facing trial for raping five of his daughters, three of whom allegedly bore his children from the assaults. He faces 27 charges including sexual assault, child endangerment and criminal sexual contact, but the wire service has decided not to name him in its coverage: The Associated Press generally doesn't identify victims of sexual crimes and is not reporting the names of the husband and wife to protect the identities of their ... (read more)Former Sun CEO: Steve Jobs Threatened Patent Suit
Former Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz began a new blog three weeks ago called What I Couldn't Say to "put context around some of the decisions I faced at Sun," now that he's free from the corporate obligations to watch his words. Schwartz writes today about tech company patent wars, revealing a 2003 meeting where Apple's Steve Jobs threatened Sun over patents: In 2003, after I unveiled a prototype Linux desktop called Project Looking Glass*, Steve called my office to let me know the ... (read more)Article by O'Keefe May Explain Senate Stunt
On Jan. 25, James O'Keefe and three other conservative activists were arrested after a weird incident in which they entered Sen. Mary Landrieu's (D-La.) office in New Orleans dressed as telephone repairmen and attempted to gain access to the closet where the phone system was serviced. They were charged with "entering federal property under false pretenses for the purpose of committing a felony," according to an FBI press release. There's been a lot of speculation about the motives of O'Keefe, ... (read more)Supreme Court Justice Anita Hill
In December Vanity Fair writer Nell Scovell asked Anita Hill, currently a law professor at Brandeis University, whether she had considered the notion of being appointed to the Supreme Court. Hill, much to my surprise, responded to the question: Dear Ms. Scovell: My mother would have warned me against answering your e-mail and participating in the kind of "devilment" you are up to. Last month I was speaking in Maine and was asked about being appointed to the Court. I responded, "That would be ... (read more)AP Settles Dispute with Drudge Retort
Late Thursday night, AP issued the following statement after a day-long discussion of the DMCA takedowns issued to the Drudge Retort that reached all the way up to the company's top management: In response to questions about the use of Associated Press content on the Drudge Retort web site, the AP was able to provide additional information to the operator of the site, Rogers Cadenhead, on Thursday. That information was aimed at enabling Mr. Cadenhead to bring the contributed content on his site ... (read more)How Digg Handles DMCA Takedowns
Jay Adelson, the chief executive of Digg, told Saul Hansell of the New York Times how the social news site responds to DMCA takedowns: From time to time, Digg has received a request, under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to take down a post, or a comment, that contains copyrighted material. Mr. Adelson said the company complies without complaint. But he said that often isn't necessary. ... But many of the items on the front page used headlines and descriptions lifted directly from the site ... (read more)
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