Tag: first amendment

March 25, 2015

Your Mom and the Courts Agree: Naked Online Pix are Not OK

Since the 1990s and the rise of the Internet and social media, each one of us has become increasingly aware of the risks and dangers of unwanted posts and how fast a “discreet” image can go viral. The development and evolution of the Internet has brought with it a host of novel legal issues, from… Read More

September 24, 2014

The Road to True Threats is Paved with Intimidating Intentions

Recently, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals considered the dividing line between free speech guarantees and the state’s authority to criminalize threat speech. In United States v. Heineman, the court held that the government must prove specific intent in true-threat cases: to obtain a conviction, prosecutors must prove not just that the defendant intended to… Read More

September 12, 2014

A New Remedy for Online Defamation

In the United States it is enormously difficult to remove allegedly defamatory information from the internet.  A victim can take the expensive and time-consuming step of suing the author for defamation in court.  However, even if a court rules that the statement is defamatory—that is, that the published statement is false and harmful to the… Read More

May 27, 2014

Mock Twitter Account Raid Results in Marijuana Arrest

Last month police raided the home of an Illinois man who created a parody Twitter account of his city’s mayor. No charges were brought against the man because the prosecutor determined that no crime had been committed, however the man’s roommate has been indicted for possession of marijuana that was found during the overzealous raid… Read More

December 6, 2012

‘Off-Label’ FDA Cases Can Run Afoul of First Amendment, Appeals Court Holds

A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit may significantly curtail enforcement efforts relating to the so-called “off-label” use of drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration for specific uses and/or populations. Finding that the government’s prosecution of promotional statements supporting off-label use of an FDA-approved drug would violate… Read More

November 21, 2012

Domain Names and the First Amendment: The Latest Word

The intersection of domain names and the First Amendment is not new. Indeed, in the early days of the domain name system, courts considered the issue of whether a domain name registrar could prohibit the registration of domain names on the basis of content – for instance, domain names containing profanities. See Nat’l A-1 Advertising,… Read More

April 26, 2012

U.N. Should Keep Its Hands Off the Internet

In March 2012, a resolution was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that would urge the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations to oppose any resolution that would regulate the Internet. It is unfortunate that it turns out to be necessary to forestall Internet regulation at the U.N. level, but that appears to… Read More

January 3, 2012

Protests Mount Against Proposed Law That Would Cripple the Internet

From the Arab Spring to the Occupy Wall Street movement, 2011 was a year of protests. It was capped off with a little-covered (by traditional media) but important protest that will carry on into 2012. We’ll call it the “Pioneers Strike Back” movement of Internet entrepreneurs. The issue is a piece of controversial legislation pending… Read More