News & Media
Twitter Stalker Is Free to Tweet, Federal Judge Rules
XBiz newswire discusses a recent federal court judge’s dismissal of a criminal case of against a man accused of Twitter stalking. The judge ruled that the man’s conduct was protected by the First Amendment. Attorney Marc Randazza is quoted in the article: It seems bad enough when people waste the courts’ time with civil claims that are really nothing more than someone being butthurt about someone else exercising their free speech rights … It is even more troubling when the government gets into the business of doing so. Read More…
XBIZ World Magazine Names Top 50 Industry Newsmakers of 2011
XBiz World Magazine recently named Marc Randazza one of the Top 50 Industry Newsmakers of 2011. The description on the nomination states: Corbin Fisher General Counsel and 1st Amendment advocate Marc Randazza continued his battle against online piracy by filing numerous bit torrent suits in California, Wisconsin and Nevada with plans for more. Read More…
Defendant asks US Marshals to drag defeated Righthaven to court
Ars Technica covers news that the Randazza Legal Group filed a motion asking the court to have U.S. Marshals take Righthaven’s principals into custody in order to compel them to transfer Righthaven’s copyrights. The post says: These copyrights will be auctioned off to pay Righthaven’s mounting legal bills. The proceeds of these auctions are likely to fall tens of thousands of dollars short of what Righthaven owes, forcing the once-imposing copyright troll into bankruptcy. Read More…
Court asked to step in after Righthaven refuses to comply with auction
Vegas Inc. reports that Randazza Legal Group attorneys are seeking an order enforcing the auction of Righthaven’s intellectual property after the company refused to turn over its copyrights to a court-appointed receiver on Dec. 19, 2011. The article states: After Righthaven didn’t comply by the close of business Monday, the deadline for compliance, Hoehn’s attorneys at Randazza Legal Group filed a new motion for a “writ of body attachment” asking that Righthaven CEO Steven Gibson and his wife, Raisha “Drizzle” Gibson, a Righthaven officer, be forced to appear in court by U.S. Marshals so they can execute the copyright transfers to the receiver at the threat of being held in contempt of court. Read More…
Online criticism sparks real world defamation lawsuit
The Sarasota Herald-Tribune writes about a Florida man’s defamation claim against a Yelp.com reviewer. The article also discusses defamation lawsuits in Florida, where Randazza Legal Group defends many defamation suits. Attorney Marc Randazza says in the article: The day you get served with a defamation suit, whether you’re right or wrong, you just lost $20,000 minimum … Most defamation defendants are blindsided by it. Read More…
Blasting people on twitter – not cyberstalking!
By J. DeVoy Pundits were concerned earlier this year when the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland brought a criminal action against William Lawrence Cassidy. His alleged crime? Posting 8,000 harassing twitter messages about Alyce Zeoli, a buddhist leader in Maryland. The Court dismissed the Government’s case, as Cassidy’s anonymous speech addressed a topic accorded the highest constitutional protections: Religion. Admittedly, some of the messages were witty. Take this poetry, for instance: Ya like haiku? Here’s one for ya. Long limb, sharp saw, hard drop Some were more esoteric, such as “A thousand voices call out to (Victim 1) and she cannot shut off the silent scream,” while others got to the point: “Do the world a favor and go
Can Righthaven survive latest legal blow?
The Las Vegas Sun reports on a Nevada federal judge’s order to appoint a receivership to Righthaven, LLC in order to auction its copyrights to pay Randazza Legal Group’s client Wayne Hoehn’s attorney’s fees and costs. The article states: The bond would ensure Randazza Legal Group would get paid should Hoehn’s victory be upheld by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Read more…
VOTE!
Please go to http://www.abajournal.com/blawg100 and cast your vote in the “opinion” category for Popehat. They are all kinds of awesome. Their editor and I work on free speech cases together. Spread the love.
Finally Homeland Security does something useful!
Behold… the anti-terrorism tool of the future. The Department of Homeland Security’s fleet of SNO-CONE MACHINES. Yep, 13 state of the art, freedom makin’ sno-cone machines. $11,700 worth. (source) For those of you who think this is a waste of money, you’re idiots. Where do terrorists and illegal immigrants come from? Hot places. Deserts and Mexico, right? Well, you turn one of these bad boys on, and they’ll be running for a sand dune faster than you can yell “TACO TACO!” Plus, have you ever seen an arab eat a sno-cone? No! How about a Mexican? I never have. So, kudos to our leaders. These things should scare the living shit out of those freedom-haters and freeloading welfare cheats!
Black judges should not be allowed to hear discrimination cases
That’s essentially what the assholes representing, umm, someone (not sure who) argued when trying to appeal the decision invalidating Prop. 8 in California. (source) <blockquote>Lawyers for a coalition of religious conservative groups met a skeptical audience in the three-judge panel from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals as they argued that now-retired Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker should have revealed that he had a long-term male partner. (source) </blockquote> The argument is essentially that Walker stood to benefit from Prop. 8 being overturned, therefore he should have been disqualified from the case. So you female judges out there, just step on down from any case involving sex discrimination. No black judges on affirmative action cases. And so
Your morning after screw
By Tatiana von Tauber And if Obama had two boys? I’m deeply disappointed by the recent decision to eliminate easier access to the so called morning after pill by girls 17 and under. I fully get where Obama gets his mindset from. I’m a parent of 2 girls, one 13 and very pretty. Obama’s decision to side with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius who overruled scientists at the Food and Drug Administration was a poor one. While he’s coming from a good place, may be a good father and honorable in doing what he thinks most parents would want, he just missed to boat of doing what’s actually in the best interest of young girls rather than what’s in the best
Leaping Lohan! Lindsay’s a Bunny.
By Tatiana von Tauber Lindsay Lohan has posed for Playboy for a whopping $1 million. Ah. Bravo. Not only is this a smart financial move for someone of her failure, it’s also a good career move because these days, being naked and/or sexual is the ticket to increased sales and stardom, temporarily at worst. A rather typical female critique of Lohan’s Playboy spread due out on newsstands Dec. 15th sits on Yahoo’s OMG titled “Lindsay Lohan Playboy cover leaked online”. The author expresses a sarcastic and sickened tone for Lohan’s actions. Sadly, it’s what I’d expect from a female who clearly doesn’t seem to understand and/or respect the distinct difference between Playboy and Penthouse past their covers. The author referenced
Fuck the King of Thailand
An American citizen translated a book about the Thai king and posted it on his website. He lands in Thailand and is arrested for lese majeste — insulting the King. (source)
Holy. Fucking. Shit.
In 2000, we (apparently) decided as a nation that it might be a good idea to elect a dumb-as-fuck redneck who wanted to turn America into a theocracy. Meh, it did not exactly work out that well. But hey, why not just give it another try? I mean, there’s no better qualification to be President than a folksy “I just fucked my cousin” accent along with some overly dramatic music in the background and a little gay bashing. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0PAJNntoRgA] Honestly, if you vote for this guy, you should be forcibly sterilized. So should everyone who is related to you. And anyone who does not hate you should be sterilized too.
Marco Rubio Called a Traitor by his own Teabag Sycophants
Maybe the teabag contingent isn’t so stupid after all. Both the left and the right seem to understand that the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, approved by the Senate last week, is a horrifying specter. The Act would “require the military to arrest terrorist suspects in the United States and detain them indefinitely without trial.” (source) Of course, 93 senators voted to approve the Act. (source) So maybe Rubio isn’t the traitor. Maybe you are, and America just doesn’t mean what you think it means.
It's Official: RIAA Trying To Join Righthaven Lawsuit
TechDirt announces in a post that the RIAA and the AAP will file a motion to for leave to file an amicus brief for Righthaven, LLC v. Hoehnin an appeal of a Nevada court decision awarding attorneys fees and costs to Randazza Legal Group client Wayne Hoehn. The post says: This looks pretty silly from the RIAA’s standpoint. They’re so afraid of a ruling that allows fair use that they’re willing to get into bed with Righthaven. Read More…
FAIL: RIAA Plans to Join Righthaven Copyright Trolls
TorrentFreak provides commentary on the possibility of the RIAA and the AAP filing an amicus brief to join a lawsuit involving Righthaven against Randazza Legal Group client Wayne Hoehn. The article states: (Managing Attorney Marc) Randazza doesn’t think that this is a particularly good move, and responded immediately in his classic style. Read More…
Music, book industries may back Righthaven
Vegas Inc. reports on the possibility of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Association of American Publishers (AAP) joining Righthaven as amici in the suit against Randazza Legal Group client Wayne Hoehn. Managing Attorney Marc Randazza wrote a letter to the attorney for the RIAA and the AAP, which stated: If you have actually managed to convince your clients that it is a good idea for them to spend tens of thousands of dollars (or more) in this case for the sole eventual purpose of merely costing Mr. Hoehn money, you can rest assured that it will be a public relations negative for them, in no small part due to Righthaven’s poor handling of this case, along with
The ABA Blawg 100 is here — and I want you to vote this year, more than ever.
The Legal Satyricon is the two-time reigning champion of its IMHO/Opinion category. Yay. And, of course, we’ve been nominated again this year. However, this year we have a new member in our category — our beloved friends at Popehat. Popehat has, inexplicably, been snubbed for the past two years, and did not make the nominations at all. It should have. We have two ABA 100 trophies already. We gave one to the Hare Krishnas and we gave the other to Goatsegirl.com. Would we like a third? Sure. But, we’d rather see Popehat get its due. And a win in this category is its due. They might have beat us at least one of the years that we won
Is the Docket Too Light in Manhattan These Days?
Dig if you will the picture of an old guy holding a sign reading “jury info” and handing out pamphlets to random folks in a courthouse plaza in New York. The pamphlets explain a nifty Constitutional doctrine called “Jury Nullification”. Now imagine that old guy being prosecuted for jury tampering because of those same pamphlets. Source Long story short, jury nullification is when a jury finds a defendant not guilty of the crime he or she is accused of not because of a lack of evidence, but because of a moral or ethical aversion to the law. Since the Fifth Amendment prohibits defendants from being tried for the same crime twice (double jeopardy), jury nullification is it for that defendant.
