News & Media
Dan Snyder is butthurt, SLAPP suit ensues, Irony meter pegged
By Marc J. Randazza Washington Redskins owner, Dan Snyder, seems to have awfully thin skin for a guy who owns a sports team named after a racial insult. Snyder filed a frivolous defamation suit against the Washington City Paper (“WCP”) based upon an article “The Cranky Redskins Fan’s Guide to Dan Snyder.” Snyder accuses the WCP of spreading “lies, half-truths, innuendo, and anti-Semitic imagery” to defame him, seeking $2 million in damages. The amount is split between two claims, the first for defamation and the second for false light. The “anti-semitic imagery” he complains of is a crude addition of horns, a unibrow and Anton LaVey-esque goatee to Snyder’s photograph in the WCP, which can be seen here. No, your
Crackdown on Live Streaming of Sporting Events
by Jason Fischer This week, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shut down a number of websites that were offering live streams of professional sporting events (source). The central claim was that the video delivered through those websites is protected by copyrights. While I’m sure there are some hippies those out there who would take the position that a sporting event can’t be copyrighted (I’ve read some off-the-wall legal articles that take such a position), I am firmly in the camp that believes the recorded video is absolutely the kind of thing that Article I, Section 8, Clause 8, was drafted to cover. My main problem here is that, rather than developing an effective way to reach every viewer who wants
Hunting Hydrogen Balloons With RC Copters
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozHoP_YThRI]
Unfair competition claim against Redtube et al. dismissed under California Anti-SLAPP statute
By J. DeVoy A California Appeals Court decision reversed a trial court’s decision dismissing an unfair competition claim against Bright Imperial Limited (Redtube) and a host of other adult entertainment companies including Bang Bros, Brazzers and Fling.com. The decision, Cammarata v. Bright Imperial Limited, No. B218226 (Cal. App. Ct. Jan. 26, 2011), invoked California’s Anti-SLAPP statute in reaching its conclusion. To wit, Randazza predicted this outcome in July, 2009. At the core of Cammarata’s grievance against RedTube was that it offered licensed content at a lower price than its competitors. Apparently, notions of efficiency and price competition are best left to Ivory Tower blockheads at Wharton and Harvard Business School; alternative revenue models for pornography offend fair competition (yet making
Zach Wahls pwns the Iowa bigot caucus
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSQQK2Vuf9Q] Now go get your fuckin shine box, magic space zombie jew eaters.
Bill Maher must read this blog
I hope he does, anyhow. A few weeks ago, I wrote a piece on The NFL and Socialism. Two days ago, Bill Maher wrote on the same thing, but maybe with a bit more cleverness, here.
I come bearing gifts
You may have noticed a lack of posts by your humble editor this year. Well, a week in Vegas plus two weeks thereafter puking your guts out will do that to your writing ethic. But, I return bearing gifts. A friend of mine is in a position to dole out a pretty awesome job for someone with a fresh JD. I am not going to publicly tell you what the job is, or where it is. You have to email me to get that information. Lets just say that in this day and age, any job is awesome. But, this one is a pretty cool clerkship for a court in a nice sunny place, and the pay is above $60K.
Did daddy touch you or not?
By J. DeVoy From the WTF file in Dane County, Wisconsin (i.e. Madison and its metro area): [A] jury has awarded $1 million to Dr. Charles and Karen Johnson, a former Madison couple who alleged that therapists implanted in their now adult daughter false memories of childhood sexual and physical abuse. The case has been cluttering up the docket for fourteen years, but at the time it was filed, it was just “one in a long line [of cases] across the country related to a controversial treatment called recovered memory therapy.” (more.) The full story is available at The Spearhead. In light of Wisconsin’s sweeping tort reform bill that’s working its way through the legislature – and almost sure to
Cooking like an alpha
By J. DeVoy Crime and Federalism has been providing recipes for a few weeks now. They’re good. But where C&F has addressed substance, we feel compelled to provide style pointers. Of course, leave it to the Scandinavians, who burned churches and killed one another to prove whose black metal band was most badass, to show us the way: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8Wu3Bps9ic&w=640&h=390] And who can overlook one of the most manly foods of all, bacon? [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d-qENAaNbM&w=640&h=390] Cooking should always be this dramatic. One takeaway from the “sidepork” video that’s related to cooking: There is nothing more gratifying than eating the raw flesh of a rival organism. Eat sushi, order your steaks blue, and try to sear as little flavor as possible out of
New Yorker violates cardinal rule of Las Vegas
By J. DeVoy Las Vegas has but one maxim: What happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas — a boon if you live there. Hubert Blackman contacted Las Vegas Exclusive Personals when visiting the Las Vegas Strip from New York to have a dancer come to his hotel room. Blackman claims that in addition to the dance, he paid an additional $120 for a sex act. Blackman sought a refund for the next day, arguing that the dancer did not stay for the full hour he paid for, and that he was too drunk to form an enforceable contract. (source.) When Las Vegas Exclusive Personals refused to give Blackman a refund, our confused consumer called the Las Vegas Metro
Dispatch from Bizarro World: USPTO to open Detroit Office
By J. DeVoy From the “putting a band-aid over a gaping wound” file, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is bringing more than 100 positions to Detroit, Michigan. The same Detroit seen on the television show Detroit 187, a timely show about the city’s absurdly high murder rate, and the very same Michigan that has been in a one-state recession since at least 2004. For patent attorneys and would-be patent attorneys affected by the economy, this is welcome news. Over the last 5-10 years the boutique patent firm model has been folded into larger general-service firms, consolidating many clients and much of the talent within a comparatively small number of hands. For those willing to brave USAJobs.com, this may
When feminism and art clash
By J. DeVoy “Pierce Harlan,” contributor to the False Rape Society, posts an interesting historical account about an 89-year-long feud between feminists and sculpture in New York City. A teaser from the article: What was so offensive about this statue? MacMonnies had the audacity to give vice a feminine face, and to depict virtue as decidedly male. The reaction of many women to this statue, from 1922 to today, is eye-opening.
ABA mulls dropping LSAT requirement
By J. DeVoy Once upon a time, professions had meaningful barriers to entry. The inability to participate was not a mark of personal failure for the unsuccessful applicant, but an indicia of the profession’s selectivity, a characteristic retained largely for the public’s benefit. One such guild was the ABA — until the mid 1990s. Around that time, Janet Reno put a vise grip on its balls with the DOJ, making it enter into a consent judgment that required the ABA reduce the hurdles needed to enter law school. The aftershocks to this consent decree have been clear for the last decade. New schools constantly open at a rate of approximately 10 for every one that should actually exist (U.C. Irvine
Breaking: Sony to file TRO against notable hacker
By J. DeVoy Known in hacker circles as “geohot,” George Hotz, along with Hector Martin Cantero, Sven Peter and the heretofore unnamed John Does 1-100, is facing an ex parte motion for a temporary restraining order by Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC (“Sony”) tomorrow, January 12. Here’s the filing (A Legal Satyricon Exclusive(?)). Working together, the defendants allegedly devised a way to circumvent Sony’s technological protection measures. The defendants have been distributing this information across the internet, instructing others how to circumvent Sony’s protective measures and use counterfeit games on their Playstation 3 devices, according to the motion. Saliently, Sony alleges that this use of technology – described as “hacking” on page 2 – is in violation of the Digital Millennium
Twitter looks out for leakers
By J. DeVoy A common feature of criminal and civil actions against unknown defendants is the need for subpoenas, warrants, or other court orders to ascertain John (or Jane) Doe’s true identity. For a long time, these have gone unchallenged by companies seeking to mind their own business, avoid the cost and consequences of litigation – or taking a position in general – and the burden of self-defense has fallen onto individual speakers. Twitter, however, is one of few firms to stand up for its users. In civil cases, subpoenas to entities with identifying information such as Google, Yahoo, Microsoft (hotmail) and other sites with users’ real names and contact data can result in the notification of a targeted user.
Arizona
We are deeply saddened at yesterday’s horrific events in Tucson, Arizona. The victims were John M. Roll, 63, the chief judge for the United States District Court for Arizona; Gabriel Zimmerman, 30, the director of community outreach for Congresswoman Giffords; Christina Green, 9; Dorothy Morris, 76; Dorwin Stoddard, 76; and Phyllis Schneck, 79. Judge Roll was the judge who swore me in to the bar for the District of Arizona. We lower the Legal Satyricon flag to half mast for all of the victims. May Congresswoman Giffords recover quickly, and may the gunman, Jared Lee Laughner, suffer deeply for what he has done.
Beautiful writing
The Mount Soledad Cross case was decided this week. I am currently reading it right now, and will post on it soon. But I just wanted to share this sentence. It was completely unnecessary to the opinion, which makes it all the more beautiful. The cross was a marker of an individual grave, not a universal monument to the war dead. And tellingly, the universal symbol emanating from those foreign wars is the poppy, not the cross. Don’t worry about the context. Or the law. Or the facts. Or the meaning. Pretend it didn’t come from a legal opinion. Just look at it for the beauty of the words, and how they are put together. Its fucking beautiful.
As Goes Iowa…
By Chad Belville, Guest Satyriconista Iowa, a square state in the Heartland, is one of the few states in the US that allows any two adults of legal age to marry, regardless of gender. Unlike every other state where Supreme Courts found that government should legally recognize the unions of two same-sex adults, the Iowa decision was unanimous and shot down all arguments against limiting legal recognition, including those of tradition, religious bias, and the red herring argument that removing the gender restriction of two adults to enter into a bi-lateral contract will lead to allowing persons to enter into contracts with plants, animals, or upend the entire bi-lateral nature of the marriage license and allow polygamous marriages. The decision
First Recorded SLAPP Sighting in Greece
Systemgraph, an Apple-authorized service company in Greece, has sued one of its customers for complaining. Natch, there’s a twitter tag devoted to mocking the company.
Captain Honors Update
A reader wrote this persuasive comment to my post on Captain Honors: The XO of a US aircraft carrier needs to be more than a sphynx, he must be an absolute, unquestionable authority at all times. The XO is going to be the guy who gives the order to seal the hatch on flooding compartment which will guarantee your buddies on the other side will die. Such an order must be followed immediately and without hesitation for the survivability of the ship; you do not want sailors doubting the seriousness of anything coming from the CO or XO at any time, ever. There are crucial moments on these ships, and the Big E has had many sailors die, but when
