News & Media
Suit contesting Nevada marriage standards to go forward
By J. DeVoy District of Nevada Judge Philip Pro declined to dismiss Clark County from a lawsuit brought by the ACLU to challenge Nevada’s “religious test” for whom may solemnize a marriage as implemented by the County. Clark County handles marriage matters in the Las Vegas metro area, ranging from issuing marriage certificates to authorizing officials to perform religious ceremonies. Under Nevada law, a marriage may be officiated only by those affiliated with established religious organizations and government officials including judges and civil marriage commissioners (including, true to Las Vegas form, those dressed as Elvis). The ACLU’s lawsuit, filed in
New Righthaven offers hosting service "with a spine"
BoingBoing reports that the new owner of Righthaven.com, Swiss-based ISP Ort Cloud, has announced that it will offer web hosting for people worried about the potential of legal threats for the content they offer. The website has partnered with attorney Marc Randazza. The post states: Through a partnership with U.S.-based first amendment lawyers Marc Randazza and Kenneth White, the new Righthaven says it will be able to vigorously defend itself in American courtrooms–and protect its clients from those who abuse laws such as the DMCA to stifle criticism Read More…
What happened to Cohen v. California?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkA-rffPVaw] A man was arrested for wearing a jacket with a political message on it while in the history exhibit at the United States Supreme Court. Yes, the same United States Supreme Court that said it was Paul Robert Cohen’s right to wear a jacket in a courthouse emblazoned with the message “fuck the draft.” Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15 (1971). H/T: Paul Levy
Megaupload Shut Down, Operators Charged
XBiz reports on the shutdown of cyberlocker Megaupload.com, whose operators have been charged with running an international mega conspiracy. Attorney Marc Randazza said of the shut down: If the government can prove these claims, which seem pretty difficult to refute, these guys are going to have an uphill defense. Read More…
Let's Be "Newtly" Open
by Tatiana von Tauber Would you find your spouse immoral if s/he asked you for an open marriage? If you’re like the general population, probably so and that’s because monogamy in marriage is so entrenched in our Judeo-Christian culture as the best way that it’s very difficult to pull out of such a norm; however, I believe Newt Gingrich showed a higher level of moral character than his current judgment dictates with respect to his second ex-wife, Marianne Gingrich’s disclosure he asked her for an open marriage. In politics as in marriage a lot of things happen in the background that
Condoms in porn: Moving industry out of state could be difficult
The Los Angeles Times reports on the new L.A. City Council ordinance that requires condom use in adult films. Attorney Marc Randazza suggests Nevada as a possible alternative for adult film companies searching for a close but more permissive venue for studios. The article states: Randazza said he would find it hard to believe that a district attorney in Nevada would target porn producers in a state that permits legalized prostitution in some areas. Read More…
And in other copyright news … some bad news
The supreme court has ruled in Golan v. Holder that works that enter the public domain may be pushed back under the cover of copyright protection. (source) This is an absolute abomination. No surprise that our “wise latina” on the Court went with the majority.
The Megaupload Indictment
The indictment is here. The indictment tells the story of cyberlockers in a perfect narrative — how the owners of the site knew that their site was a massive clearinghouse of stolen content, they profited from it, and they did whatever they could to mask it. The charges include Racketeering, conspiracy to commit copyright infringement, and money laundering. It looks like the Department of Justice cooperated with foreign law enforcement to actually take the owners of the site into custody. (source)
Why we need fair use
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKNaYlzssbc] In this video, the author uses the entirety of Maurice Sendak’s “Where the Wild Things Are.” But, Christopher Walken breathes new life into it, and gives it a life of its own. That’s really what fair use is all about. And no, you fucking hippies, SOPA would not make this illegal.
Crystal Cox
The New York Times has this to say about her. Forbes has this to say. This blogger goes down the rabbit hole and figures out what got her started — just like all of us, its about chasing tail. PopeHat has this to say — and this. And some guy I don’t know has alllllll this to say. You decide, brah.
Awww…. does somebody need a hug?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpeFFcXx6Go]
Righthaven Actually Shows Up In Court, Whines About 'Scorched Earth' Attacks Against It
TechDirt reports on the Righthaven debtors exam and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ denial of an emergency injunction. On the Randazza Legal Group’s effort to recover attorneys fees, TechDirt said: [I]n a rather ironic move, the company is now complaining about the tactics used against it by lawyer Marc Randazza, who has been relentless in pursuing the attorney’s fees that the court has ordered Righthaven to pay. Read More…
Nevada Supreme Court expands open records law to include e-mails
The public and the media won another battle recently in Nevada, when the state’s Supreme Court ruled that the Nevada open records law should be expanded to allow the public access to logs of e-mails. The Nevada Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Reno Gazette-Journal, which previously had been denied a request pursuant to the Nevada Public Records Act that asked for former Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons to turn over 100 e-mails that spanned a six-month period during his tenure in office. The e-mails were sent from a state-issued account. The opinion overturned a U.S. District Court opinion that
Pissing on the Taliban — I'm with the Marines
A group of United States Marines stood around some dead Taliban fighters and pissed on them. They videotaped it and the footage wound up on Youtube. Now, everyone is rushing to condemn the marines’ behavior. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said: “I have seen the footage, and I find the behavior depicted in it utterly deplorable. I condemn it in the strongest possible terms. Those found to have engaged in such conduct will be held accountable to the fullest extent.” Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos commented similarly: “I want to be clear and unambiguous, the behavior depicted in the video
XBIZ LA's Day 1 Delivers Lively Seminars, Robust Speed Networking
XBIZ updates readers with a report from day one of XBIZ LA, where attorney Marc Randazza spoke in a roundtable discussion about working in the adult industry. Randazza said, of downloading pornography on torrent sites: When you are sharing on a BitTorrent, you are sharing with your closest 200,000 friends. Read More…
First Amendment trumps Equal Opportunity Employment
Today, the Supreme Court in Hosanna-Tabor Church v. EEOC issued a unanimous ruling on the First Amendment. While this blog regularly celebrates the Freedom of Speech clause, the decision focuses primarily on the Free Exercise Clause and, to a lesser extent, the Establishment Clause. In a nutshell: Church had 2 types of teacher–lay and ministerial. Ministerial teacher develops disability and takes leave of absense; replaced by lay teacher. Church rules normally prioritize ministerial teachers, but when this teacher tries to get her job back, she is denied. She becomes insubordinate and complains of an ADA violation. She is terminated. Teacher
Hit By Defendant Judgments, Copyright Troll Righthaven Decries ‘Scorched Earth’ Effort to Collect
The ABA Journal writes about the Randazza Legal Group’s efforts to recover the judgment granted to its client, Wayne Hoehn, in 2011. The article states: But in a delicious turn of events for defendants in the cases brought by the so-called copyright troll, a federal judge ruled that Righthaven had no standing to sue for infringement, and judgments against the onetime plaintiff began to pile up. Read More…
"We discourage penile tattooing"
A guy in Iran gets his penis tattooed with “borow be salaamat” (good luck on your journeys), and his girlfriend’s initials. Unfortunately, he went to a “traditional” tattoo artist, whose method caused the guy to get a permanent boner. The tattooist punctured too-deep holes that damaged vessels in the penis, resulting in fistulas, and then a pseudoaneurysm, a pooling of blood outside a vessel wall. They recommended he see a specialist to have the blood removed, but he rejected that idea and saw another doctor to have a shunt procedure performed. It didn’t work. (source) He seems pleased with the
Why do you hate America?
I get that question a lot — as do most people who think and express opinions. Of course the answer is that we don’t “hate America.” In fact, it is precisely because we love America that we don’t like seeing shitheads ruin it, and we feel compelled to say something about it. Well, until now. If you’re ever asked “why do you hate America,” you can go into a diatribe about the Constitution and ideas and shit like that… or you can just say THIS IS WHY! And if you want to know why I support forced sterilization…. same answer.