The Next Web: Your angry tweets may require libel insurance. “Courtney Love spent almost six years in litigation, accused of libeling her former attorney in a Twitter post that was visible for less than 10 minutes. She paid a reported $780,000 in settlements as a result of two other defamation suits, both stemming from Twitter missives Love wrote about designer Dawn Simorangkir. ‘Twitter should ban my mother,’ her daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, once said. Love, an actress, musician and the widow of late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, inherited the band’s publishing rights. She can afford to take on defamation lawsuits. You probably can’t. Given how much of our lives is spent venting on social media, especially in the age of Trump, the more vociferous might want to consider libel insurance.”
legal
ZDNet: Sonos says users must accept new privacy policy or devices may “cease to function”
ZDNet: Sonos says users must accept new privacy policy or devices may “cease to function”. “Sonos has confirmed that existing customers will not be given an option to opt out of its new privacy policy, leaving customers with sound systems that may eventually ‘cease to function’. It comes as the home sound system maker prepares to begin collecting audio settings, error data, and other account data before the launch of its smart speaker integration in the near future.”
Ars Technica: Supreme Court asked to nullify the Google trademark
Ars Technica: Supreme Court asked to nullify the Google trademark. “Is the term ‘google’ too generic and therefore unworthy of its trademark protection? That’s the question before the US Supreme Court…. What’s before the Supreme Court is a trademark lawsuit that Google already defeated in a lower court. The lawsuit claims that Google should no longer be trademarked because the word ‘google’ is synonymous to the public with the term ‘search the Internet.'”
The Register: Sorry, but those huge walls of terms and conditions you never read are legally binding
The Register: Sorry, but those huge walls of terms and conditions you never read are legally binding. “You may never read those lengthy terms and conditions attached to every digital download or app but, in America at least, they are legally binding. Sorry. That’s the conclusion of a panel of appeal judges earlier this week when shining beacon of corporate responsibility Uber insisted its users had agreed not to sue the company somewhere in its long list of lengthy legal locutions.”
ProPublica: Track News Stories About Hate With the Documenting Hate News Index
ProPublica: Track News Stories About Hate With the Documenting Hate News Index. “The Documenting Hate News Index is updated every day. You can use it to search and filter by keyword and date range to see what hate incidents have been reported in local and national news outlets. It’s by no means a complete accounting of all hate in America. It includes only incidents reported by a news outlet indexed by Google News. And in addition to cataloging violence, harassment and vandalism, the project includes stories about hate crimes legislation and programs designed to combat hate in local communities.”
BBC: Chinese ‘cyber-court’ launched for online cases
BBC: Chinese ‘cyber-court’ launched for online cases. “China has launched a digital “cyber-court” to help deal with a rise in the number of internet-related claims, according to state media. The Hangzhou Internet Court opened on Friday and heard its first case – a copyright infringement dispute between an online writer and a web company.”
American Library Association: Victory near in 20-year fight to provide public with CRS reports
American Library Association: Victory near in 20-year fight to provide public with CRS reports. “After nearly 20 years of advocacy by ALA, Congress has recently taken significant steps toward permanently assuring free public access to reports by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). Taxpayers fund these reports but generally have not been able to read them. “
