Daisuke Nakai reports: The Supreme Court has ruled that individuals posting comments on the Internet must be held to the same standards for criminal libel as writers in other forms of media. The unprecedented ruling means that individuals can be held criminally responsible for their Internet postings. In its decision dated Monday, the court’s First…
Category: Court
Canadian copyright conviction raises privacy concerns
The decision to send a Montreal man to prison for pirating movies has set a dangerous precedent that could threaten privacy rights, say civil rights advocates in Vancouver. On Tuesday, Gérémi Adam, 27, became the first Canadian jailed for breaking cinematic copyright, when he was sentenced to 2½ months after pleading guilty to two counts…
Federal judge approves Facebook ‘Beacon’ class-action settlement
Jessica Guynn reports: After reviewing objections, a San Jose federal judge has approved a $9.5-million settlement of a class-action lawsuit over social networking site Facebook’s program Beacon that published what users were buying. Facebook denied any wrongdoing but agreed to end the Beacon program last November. Read more on the L. A. Times. David Kravets…
ACLU sues state over police cell phone tracking
John Curran reports: The ACLU of Vermont is suing the state after unsuccessfully seeking to find out whether police agencies are using cell phone tracking technology to keep tabs on people’s whereabouts. The state Attorney General refused public records requests by ACLU seeking information about the practice, saying that information is exempt from public records…