News & Media
3d Circuit: "No child porn charges in sexting case"
by Jason Fischer The Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit handed down its decision this week in the Pennsylvania “sexting” case, in which a prosecutor threatened to press child porn charges against a group of teenage girls for sending cell phone pictures of themselves in bras and underwear. You can read our anti-gender-bias coverage of the oral arguments here.
What I wish I had written about Newdow v. Rio Linda Unified School District
For those of you who didn’t notice last week, two judges from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals wiped their asses with the Constitution, presumably because their unethical and spineless souls have been eaten by their imaginary friends. Honestly, this case is about as disingenuous as Bush v. Gore or Dred Scott v. Sandford. In response, I wrote a pretty
Time to Think About Abolishing Public Education?
Probably not. But, if this video is accurate (and the CATO Institute usually is) then it costs just as much to educate a student at the Anacostia school for future dropouts as it does to send a kid to Sidwell-Friends. If that’s the case, maybe those “voucher people” aren’t so crazy after all. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzvKyfV3JtE] H/T: Doski
Will California Mandate Condoms in Porn Productions?
California health and safety authorities are debating today whether performers in adult films should be legally required to wear condoms during porn shoots. California has its own OSHA department that regulates workplace safety matters, and it took up the issue after prodding from the AIDS healthcare foundation. The AIDS healthcare foundation takes the position that this is a workplace safety
Web Site Barred From Quick Release of New Ratings
Explaining the “hot news” exception to First Amendment law and its application to the investment banking sector. Although the exact wording and presentation of news content is copyrightable, facts are not, and can be freely used by all. There is an exception to this rule for hot news, which is news that is obtained because of a superior news-gathering source
Documents Unsealed in Vicaom v. Youtube — Youtube Shady; Viacom Scorned & Seeks Vast Shift in 512(c) Immunity
Today, a New York District Court unsealed documents in Viacom v. Youtube and my-oh-my there are some doozies inside. Both Viacom and Youtube come out looking like shady characters; Viacom looks like a scorned lover smashing up Youtube’s car up after their failed Youtube buyout and Youtube looks like an prick purposely trying to induce copyright infringement in brazen Napster/Grokster
Alex Chilton . . . Rest in Slack
Alex Chilton died yesterday of an apparent heart attack in New Orleans. (source) You kids who think you may not know who he is … you probably do, you just don’t know it.
YKW? WYB. YWIA.
Some blogs and websites use the acronym NSFW – not safe for work – to describe their content. We don’t. We don’t believe in it, and here is why. Nevertheless, we understand that some of you work in environments where the MacKinnonites have ruined everything for everyone. Some lazy ass who is looking for a handout and a pay day
NOT an Enforceable Trademark
How many times do I have to remind everyone — trademarks are not “word patents.” The adult movie studio, X-Play, has published a series of porno parodies where it throws the word “NOT” before the name of an otherwise well-known title. For example, X-Play published titles like “Not the Bradys XXX,” “Not Bewitched XXX,” “Not the Cosbys XXX,” “Not Married
Did Perez Hilton fail to comply with § 2257 guidelines?
By J. DeVoy At True/Slant, there’s speculation that noted celebrity blogger Perez Hilton may have violated Federal obscenity laws. The upshot: According to AVN.com [WYB], the online home of Adult Video News, the adult movie industry’s trade publication, Hilton’s March 15 post, “Chuy Is an Official Porn Star!” [WYB], does not follow 18 U.S.C. § 2257 guidelines. The code requires websites that post explicit sexual content
Ninth Circuit denies 1st Amendment protections to brothel advertisements
By J. DeVoy Last week, the Ninth Circuit ruled in Coyote Publishing Inc. v. Nevada that Nevada’s restrictions on brothel advertising are lawful, holding that the state has an interest in regulating commoditized sex. This decision overturned the U.S. District Court of Nevada’s decision, which held that such regulations were unconstitutionally overreached pure commercial speech, and that the state had
Best puppy name?
By J. DeVoy Fenrir, or Cerberus? If you’re getting several female puppies, or a succession of them, make sure to work Gorgon into their names. Easily the most prestigious sisterhood in all antiquity. Have any national sororities tried to lay claim on the Gorgon name and legacy?
D.C. leads nation in cyber-criminals
By J. DeVoy According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center’s 2009 report on internet crime, the District of Columbia is home to more cyber-criminals per capita than any other state or district. With 116 cyber-criminals per 100,000 residents, D.C.’s concentration of such perpetrators is higher than neighboring Maryland (29.72 per 100k) and Virginia (24.12 per 100k). More information is available in
Court sentences Erin Andrews's stalker to 30 months
By J. DeVoy Yesterday, Judge Manuel Real of the Central District of California sentenced Michael Barrett, a 48-year-old insurance executive from Chicago, to 30 months in prison for his infamous peephole video of ESPN sportscaster Erin Andrews. Barrett had agreed to a 27-month term, but Real imposed the harshest possible sentence under the Federal guidelines. Barrett offered a teary apology
Memo to the Left: The Right now has your playbook
Ken at Popehat critiques the Texas State Board of Education’s decision to soviet-style remove Thomas Jefferson from the state’s history curriculum. You see Jefferson was a deist, and that fucks with right wing dipshits’ fairy tale that we are a “christian nation.” But… Ken stabs right through the Right wing, and hooks around to skewer the left too: What happened
Judicial Hi-Five of the Day
by Christopher Harbin In an order granting defendant Sony’s motion for summary judgment on a copyright infringement suit, Judge Marilyn Hall Patel drops this choice nugget: Notably, some of the characters that plaintiffs allege to be similar across the stories are Greek gods like Ares, Zeus and Athena. These are stock figures not only of many contemporary stories, movies and
What does law school really cost?
By J. DeVoy This weekend, my facebook and e-mail discussions focused on a New York Times piece about for-profit trade schools and their questionable value to students. Many likened the trade schools at issue to law schools, which require a substantial investment for returns that, even in the best of times, are uncertain for all but the most elite law students.
James Brown as the second coming and other weekend updates
By J. DeVoy He is risen? James Brown’s body is missing, and his daughter claims it’s to prevent an autopsy. LaRhonda Petit, the 48-year-old progeny of the singer, said “My daddy’s body has disappeared. I have no clue where it was taken, but I need to know where…I’m convinced his death was suspicious and I want the people responsible brought
At least your kids aren't playing with this
By J. DeVoy From Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job. “I don’t need your dinner, I have Oh-Hungee!”