Some in the press have concluded that “prosecutors are intent on busting lawyers, not movie types”, and the entertainment magazine suggests the wiretapping scandal isn’t really such a big deal after all. Still sounds pretty interesting to us (Gabriel Snyder, “Sounds of silence”, Jul. 20).
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
“Almost all leakers are lawyers. That’s the bottom line.”
That was former New York Times executive editor Howell Raines’ response to an Aspen Institute audience member’s question about media leaks, as quoted by Greg Schreier in the Aspen Times (“Raines reflects on journalism, loss and lawyers”, Jul. 21).
“Court rules: Mazel tough”
“A Manhattan judge has tossed out a lawsuit by a couple claiming they endured ‘humiliation, indignity, distress of mind and mental suffering’ when they weren’t able to have their daughter’s bat mitzvah at The Plaza hotel. … Although the hotel gave the family six months’ notice [of its decision to undergo renovations, making the space unavailable] and repaid their $12,000 deposit on the planned $20,000 bash, the Alenicks claimed it ‘made no effort to compensate for the uniqueness of The Plaza.'” (Dareh Gregorian, New York Post, Jul. 21)(via Lattman).
Look for the union libel
“A jury ruled Friday that a labor union defamed Sutter Health with a mass mailing of postcards and awarded the Northern California health care organization almost $17.3 million in damages. The Placer County jury found that Unite Here, one of the nation’s largest unions that represents hotel, restaurant and laundry workers, defamed Sutter Health early last year by sending postcards to women of child-bearing age in Northern California claiming the organization’s hospitals used unclean linens. The union was in a labor dispute with the laundry service that cleaned the linens at the time.” (“Jury: Union defamed Sutter Health”, InsideBayArea.com (Hayward Daily Review), Jul. 23; Mehul Srivastava, “Jury award stings union”, Sacramento Bee, Jul. 22).
I’m interviewed at Bloggasm.com
At Bloggasm, “a media blog featuring interviews from the most interesting blogs around,” Simon Owens asks me six questions about the law and about this weblog generally. My favorite is on the difference between writing books and writing a blog. You’ll also hear my suggestions when asked to name five blogs that complement this one. Read the whole interview here.
On the radio
Yesterday I was a guest on two radio shows. I joined Ron Smith on Baltimore’s WBAL to discuss my article, just out, on the lawsuit against MySpace for failing to chaperone a teenage user. And I joined Grover Norquist on his Rightalk broadcast to talk about the politics of liability reform.
Althouse on YouTube lawsuit
The Wisconsin lawprof has this to say (Jul. 19) on that copyright-infringement lawsuit that we mentioned in passing yesterday, the one aimed at the hit site for hosting a video of the beating of Reginald Denny:
Robert Tur, who could have just asked YouTube to remove the video someone had uploaded, instead left it there and then sued demanding $150,000 for each of the 1,000+ viewings that occurred. YouTube took the video down when the lawsuit called attention to the problem.
Well, we knew eventually someone would sue YouTube, but could it be anyone less sympathetic then a guy who once got lucky and was there with a camera when someone else was getting beaten up?
More in her comments section.
Changing planes in U.S.? II
While I oppose laws banning online gambling as ludicrous public policy in a world with government-run lotteries that return sixty cents on the dollar, I don’t see the controversy (also Hurt) over arresting someone indicted for breaking those laws when they step foot on US soil. If Osama bin Laden were foolish enough to take a commercial flight from Karachi to Caracas that changed planes in Dallas, federales could surely arrest him while he was waiting in line at the Orange Julius. Airports don’t convey some sort of diplomatic immunity.
That said, as a public policy matter, America should perhaps be less inclined to assert jurisdiction for victimless Internet crimes committed over international borders, lest we lose the ability to defend the free speech rights of American citizens to discuss issues of religion or politics barred in other countries. And in conjunction with the NatWest Three extraditions (ably discussed by Kirkendall), one fears a European perception of the US as a nationwide judicial hellhole unsuitable for business dealings, much the same way an American might view doing business in Russia. Already, international companies are choosing to raise capital in international financial markets outside the US where once they went to New York, a problem discussed by Larry Ribstein and Henry Butler in a recent AEI book on Sarbanes-Oxley.
Separately, with respect to the new federal interest in focusing scarce resources on gambling, one wonders if Rep. Jefferson is hoping that he shredded his March Madness pool entry before the FBI searched his office. And see also Mankiw v. Passey (via Taylor).
Changing planes in U.S.? “Travel with a lawyer”
The feds arrested BetOnSports chief executive David Carruthers while he changed planes at Dallas/Fort Worth en route to Costa Rica, charging that his company accepts bets from U.S. residents in violation of federal law. One British view of the implications: “it now looks as if chief executives need ‘lawyerguards’ especially when venturing into risky legal territory such as the US.” (Times (UK) law blog, Jul. 18; Philip Robinson, Dominic Walsh and James Doran, “FBI and tax officials in BetOnSports probe”, The Times Online, Jul. 18; Jacob Sullum, Reason “Hit and Run”, Jul. 18 and Jul. 19; Radley Balko, Cato at Liberty, Jul. 18; Kirkendall, Jul. 19). More on the authorities vs. online gambling: Jun. 19; Nov. 18, 2005, Aug. 9, 2004, etc.
New London Times column: MySpace suit
I’ve got a new online column up at the British paper, my second. I discuss the recent lawsuit seeking to blame the social-networking site for not providing a virtual chaperone for a 14-year-old Texas user who went out on an inadvisable date. (Walter Olson, “Teens, sex, and MySpace”, Times (U.K.), Jul. 18). For earlier coverage of the MySpace suit, see Jun. 21, Jun. 23, and Jun. 26.