Christopher Danzig
Posts by Christopher Danzig
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Facebook, Pro Se Litigants, Social Media, Social Networking Websites, Technology
No, You Can’t Sue Your Uncle For Putting Embarrassing Family Photos On Facebook
At this point, nearly everyone has at least one friend who finds perverse joy in posting stupid, unflattering photos of their friends to Facebook. Maybe drunk photos or maybe just dorky, grody ones from right after you ran a marathon or something. In these mildly annoying situations, most people would untag the photos and then […]
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Document Review, Email Scandals, Media and Journalism
Judge’s Turn To Hate On News Of The World
It might have seemed impossible, but things have gotten worse for those involved in the News of the World phone hacking scandal. In addition to all the other evidence against the now defunct newspaper, which was run by James Murdoch, the son of everyone’s favorite terrifying Australian media baron, new email evidence — that investigators […]
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Cyberlaw, Google / Search Engines, Law Professors, Technology
Are Lawyers Officially No Longer Technophobic?
The first month of 2012 was a crazy one for internet law. The Stop Online Piracy Act gloriously crashed and burned, Apple is getting sued in China for naming rights to the iPad, and in America someone is suing to show that porn doesn’t deserve copyright protection. In the wake of all the hot debate […]
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Cyberlaw, Department of Justice, Technology
While the Internet was throwing itself a party for taking down the Stop Online Piracy Act, getting drunk off its own power and shooting pistols into the air like a Mexican fiesta, the Department of Justice was already throwing up a big middle finger to offshore rogue websites, or whatever they’re calling pirates now. Everyone’s favorite hacker collective, Anonymous, struck back in revenge almost immediately. The group launched massive denial of service attacks against every media and governmental website their deranged hive mind could think of….
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Cyberlaw, Google / Search Engines, Social Networking Websites, Technology, Wikipedia
SOPA Protests Will Make Tomorrow Super Boring
Tomorrow is going to be the most boring day in the recent history of the Internet. For 24 hours — on January 18 — several high-profile websites will go dark, to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act. No one will be able to research potentially fake facts about their favorite celebrities, discover the newest nerdy […]
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Crime, Divorce Train Wrecks, Document Review, iPhone, Technology
This Might Be the Most Tumultuous Divorce of All Time
For a long time, I have been a staunch advocate of putting passwords on all electronic devices — laptops, phones, tablets, etc. There’s no reason to leave your private life or sensitive business data accessible to any schmo who might have access to your phone, just because you’re too lazy to spend three seconds typing […]
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Advertising, Drugs, Google / Search Engines, Marijuana, Sports, Technology
Why Google Is an Unwitting Drug Dealer and Ticket Scalper
One of my favorite Mitch Hedberg jokes goes something like, “I love the FedEx driver, because he’s a drug dealer and he don’t even know it.” Well, it turns out you might be able to say the same thing about Google AdWords. A new BBC report reveals the sketchier side of Google’s flagship, profit-making endeavor. […]
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Cyberlaw, Intellectual Property, Technology, Trademarks
Under New Internet Rules, URLs Like AboveTheLaw.YourMom Will Soon Be Available
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has been busy lately. First, the Southern California-based non-profit responsible for the Internet’s address system created a porn-only, top-level domain. And on January 12, ICANN will start allowing people to register top-level domains of whatever they want. .Com, .net, and .org — your days of tyranny are […]
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iPhone, Small Law Firms, Technology
Survey: Attorneys Are a Bunch of Apple Fan Boys (and Girls)
Since time immemorial (or at least since the advent of computers), PCs have ruled the law office technology world. As iPhones and iPads have become more popular, Apple products have begun encroaching on the PC’s long-standing dominance of the workplace. But who would’ve thought that Apple would actually be taking over, even in the technophobic […]
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Cyberlaw, Department of Justice, Laurence Tribe, Military / Military Law, Technology
The Soldier Accused of Leaking Military Cables to WikiLeaks Is in Court Right Now
The former military intelligence analyst accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of documents to WikiLeaks has spent the last four days in a Maryland military court, undergoing a hearing to determine whether or not his case will proceed to court-martial. For those new to the party, 24-year-old Bradley Manning is accused of committing the biggest […]
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Facebook, Legal Ethics, State Judges, Technology
If You Are a Judge, Do Your Facebook Friends Matter?
It seems there is an interesting emerging trend in litigation these days: When a ruling doesn’t go your way, just make an appeal alleging judicial conflict of interest. Same-sex marriage opponents wanted California judge Vaughn Walker to recuse himself from Prop. 8 hearings because he is gay. If and when the Supreme Court decides to […]
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Bad Ideas, Google / Search Engines, Privacy, Sex, Sex Scandals, Technology, United Kingdom / Great Britain
Suing Google to Remove Results About Your Alleged Orgy Won’t Work
Chris Danzig had never heard of Max Mosley until yesterday, when he read he was suing Google in Europe to block all search results regarding his alleged participation in some sort of Nazi sex orgy. Ironically, when you search for Mosley’s name now, you get a zillion news stories with headlines like “Max Mosley sues Google over ‘Nazi orgy’ search results.” Let’s learn more about Mosley, the former president of Formula One, and his decidedly unsexy legal battle against Google….
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Airplanes / Aviation, Cellphones, Rudeness, Technology, Travel / Vacation
Why I Refuse to Turn Off My iPod for Takeoff and Landing
Like he does every time he gets on a plane, Chris Danzig took off his headphones until the flight attendant walked away. Then he put them back on. He also never turned off his cell phone or put it in airplane mode. You probably know this is not allowed. Airplane passengers are supposed to turn off all electronic devices for takeoff and landing. But WHY?
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Cyberlaw, Facebook, Intellectual Property, Social Networking Websites, Technology, Trademarks
Model Who Says, ‘I’m Too Sexy For This Trademark’ Loses $81K Suit
The Internet may be infinite, but people still are constantly fighting over online real estate. It happens in the porn industry, and it happens to celebrities. Even Miami Dolphins cheerleaders have to fight for their right to party at their own website. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida recently ruled in […]
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Cyberlaw, Google / Search Engines, Technology, Twittering
New Piracy Bill Could Lead to National Censorship Nightmare
As we mentioned in yesterday’s Non-Sequiturs, congressional hearings for the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act began yesterday. People are really not happy about the bill. Google’s CEO called SOPA, as the bill is known for short, “draconian.” Time’s Techland blog ran the headline this morning, “SOPA Won’t Stop Online Piracy, Would Censor Everyone Else.” What […]
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Football, Junk Email / Spam, Sports, Technology
Ohio Attorney Sues Over Misleading Emails, Even Though He Wasn’t Misled
It’s not like the general public needs more reasons to dislike attorneys, yet unfortunately, there’s always more fuel for the fire. If you read the news, you might say they are boozers, they are arrogant, and they are tools. Now cynics can add “cherry-pickers” to that list. The attorney in the following case acted like […]
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NY State Bar Wants to Help All the Alcoholic Lawyers Out There
Attorneys tend to be a work-hard, play-hard bunch. After all those long days, it can feel really nice to unwind with a Manhattan at the end of the day. Ain’t nothin’ wrong with that. That said, nobody wants to end up like Paul Newman’s character in The Verdict, a washed-up, alcoholic ambulance chaser. And it […]
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Cellphones, Police, Privacy, Technology
Judges Are Getting Concerned About ‘Undeniably Creative’ Warrantless Cell Phone Tracking
There has been justifiably a lot of talk over the last few days about U.S. v. Jones, and the privacy issues it raises. Our editor emeritus Kashmir Hill was fortunate enough to hear oral arguments at the Supreme Court in person, alongside top legal reporters such as Jeffrey Toobin and Adam Liptak. But when it […]