MetaFilter posts tagged with lawsuit

Real Relevant?

shunshine — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 14:56:08 -0800

Considering DVDs seem a bit long in the tooth, this recent foray into the world of DVD ripping seemed a thinly veiled attempt to pick a fight with the MPAA. After invoking the Glaser Doctrine this morning, guess they got what they wanted. Hate, hate, HATE or tolerate the company, they've pulled a couple interesting stunts. Of course the widely-used, DMCA-breaking DeCSS method of ripping has been around for years, but was apparently made possible by RealNetworks itself in 1999. Their new, (purportedly) legal route was inspired by this suit won against the DVD CCA last year. Talk about a 10-year plan!

NFB v. Target: Web Accessibility and business

Ky — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:29:46 -0800

An important class action lawsuit was settled today when Target agreed to pay $6 million in damages to the plaintiffs (National Federation of the Blind, et al.) because these disabled users could not shop on the Target.com site. Here is a collection of legal ~~mumbo jumbo~~ materials. The WCAG set authored by the W3C is barely used online (and 2.0 is controversial); Section 508 applies only to government-funded agencies and their websites; this class action lawsuit put to test the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, particularly Title III. Some of the comments posted to various newspapers about the story were particularly enlightening: disabled people are lawsuit-happy whiny bastards; small business owners will be put out of business because making accessible sites is omg so expensive and hard; WWW usage is a privilege, not a right; and, naturally, arguments against the previously stated. The ADA doesn't specify how online stores should be made accessible, though, so business will have to rely on WCAG and maybe even tips from Section 508.

Word Withdrawal

ThePinkSuperhero — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 08:00:28 -0800

The sad day has come: Facebook has shut down Scrabulous. Read the complaint here (PDF). Those suffering from withdrawal can head on over to Scrabulous.com. There are several Save Scrabulous groups on Facebook (1, 2, 3, 4). Previous MeFi post on Scrabulous.

Prince is an angry, angry man

astruc — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 11:20:21 -0800

Fifty Norwegian artists (including the national symphony orchestra KORK), who recorded Prince covers in honor of his 50th birthday June 7, have been slapped with a lawsuit by the short-tempered star. For now, all 81 songs can be previewed free on C+C Records' website, and some are also available on MySpace in streamable medley form. Source.

It's just the grill... the grill... the grill you want

porn in the woods — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:08:18 -0800

Claiming "complete rip-off" of their iconic image and sound, Devo are suing McDonald's over the "New Wave Nigel" included with the American Idol Happy Meal. See the video of Nigel in action. "They didn't ask us anything," Gerard Casale told Australian Associated Press. "Plus, we don't like McDonald's, and we don't like American Idol, so we're doubly offended."

All-organic or none!

snofoam — Wed, 28 May 2008 15:08:13 -0800

All One God Faith, maker's of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap, are suing thirteen cosmetic brands for using the term "organic" on products that include petroleum-based ingredients. And now, Olympic gold medalist Mark Spitz is suing them for using his name on their unique bottle labels (where he appears alongside folks like Jesus, Mohammed and Einstein). They were most recently in the news defending Germs drummer Don Bolles after he was wrongly arrested when his bottle of Dr. Bronners tested a false positive for GHB. Bolles got off, but the faulty test - which returned a false positive for actual soaps (made from saponified oil) but not for detergent-based cleaners - was perhaps the germ of an idea to fight for more accurate labels on body care products.

Owner of Neurodiversity.com Subpoenaed in Autism Suit.

kristin — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 09:37:15 -0800

Kathleen is the owner of neurodiversity.com, one of the most comprehensive resources online in the topic of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Neurodiversity is just one person with a domain name and a computer, not a corporation, or a money-making enterprise, but apparently having good research skills and a willingness to share what you know is becoming legally problematic. Last week, Kathleen has received a subpoena commanding her to appear for deposition and document production in Rev. Lisa Sykes and Seth Sykes’ $20,000,000 personal injury lawsuit, Sykes v. Bayer. That subpoena request, that she turn over every piece of autism-related correspondence and/or contact she has ever had with any company, government agency, religious group, or any other person with any interest in autism, which includes all contact and correspondence with other autism bloggers. They are also asking for all of her financial records. Neurodiversity.com has posted about the Sykes ongoing litigation previously, and Kathleen has been outspoken against Sykes use of her church as a platform for her lawsuit, but this subpoena smacks of intimidation, given that Kathleen is not an expert, a scientist, has never met Sykes, nor been employed by Bayer. In her motion to quash the subpoena, Kathleen writes, in part:

The subpoena was not issued in good faith because its manifest purpose is not to elicit information relevant to determining Bayer’s liability for Wesley Sykes’ medical and developmental problems, but to indulge his parents’ and their attorney’s curiosity about my motivations and associations; to aggressively communicate their suspicion that I am not merely a fellow citizen who openly, intelligently and conscientiously disagrees with their public statements and actions, but a covert agent of the government, the pharmaceutical industry, or some other hidden force; to disrupt my relationships with my associates and news sources; and to intimidate, harass and retaliate against me for exercising my constitutional right to report and express opinions about matters of widespread public interest in which plaintiffs and plaintiffs’ counsel are involved. These are not legitimate reasons to invoke the judicial subpoena power. Indeed, in so doing, Mr. Shoemaker has engaged in a sanctionable abuse of his authority as an officer of the court.

Attempting to drag Kathleen in as a third party witness seems a pretty clear form of intimidation, given that she possesses no special third-party knowledge. Is this the future of niche-market blogging?

Don't copy that floppy (or workbook)

starman — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 09:05:06 -0800

An associate professor and former librarian is collecting education copyright infringement cases in a database. So far, the database is small (9 entries), but still interesting. You can add to it here.

This is a sexual harassment suit.

saslett — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:24:26 -0800

Everyone's favorite pro se plaintiff, Jonathan Lee Riches, whose complaints have previously graced Metafilter's front page, has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit [pdf] against Eliot Spitzer. For those who have trouble making out Riches's one-page handwritten complaint, it reads: "This is a sexual harassment suit. Gov. Spitzer is try [sic] to sell me for prison prostitution labor to Albany legislators. Spitzer threatend [sic] to take my money like he did with Grasso. all [sic] corporate convictions Spitzer used the fines to pay for prostitutes for himself and implants for Silda. I'm personally offened [sic], I seek a restraining order Against [sic] him." Baseball fans may want to check out his lawsuit against Atlanta Braves pitcher Tom Glavine, who apparently can throw a mean pitcher of lemonade.

Something "special" in the air?

bitter-girl.com — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 16:46:03 -0800

Woman sues American Airlines for not preventing in-flight masturbation. Oh sure, they can tell breastfeeding mothers to cover up, but when it comes to American Airlines and a fellow passenger ejaculating into a sleeping female passenger's hair? No problem!