Ignorantia Juris

Oregon claims that their laws are copyrighted, so you best not publish them (BoingBoing).

Conservative judges seem to be the “activist,” disregarding precedent (Firedoglake).

Sneaking tort reform in (The Journal Record, via the PopTort).

Philly DA says new gun controls laws are probably void, Police Commisioner says “[W]e will act as if this whole conversation with the D.A. just didn’t take place[.]”

Monster Cables, in addition to being overpriced, are occasionally litigious.  This is quite the response to their demand letter.  It opens with
Let me begin by stating, without equivocation, that I have no interest whatsoever in infringing upon any intellectual property belonging to Monster Cable.  Indeed, the less my customers think my products resemble Monster’s, the better.
Then it gets better.

The Selling of the Judiciary (NY Times).

I had included a link to a NY Times Op-Ed in a previous post about the need to drop restrictions on Legal Aid.  This is a compelling response.

Defendant … Continue Reading

The Pirate’s Dilemma: How youth culture is reinventing Capitalism.

Via a worthwhile article in Reason.

Next up on the docket, RIAA v. Bush.  Well, not really (Crunchgear).

I’m a geek, that’s why my behavior was so suspicious (Wired).

The worst places to get sued in America (Forbes via Tort Law Prof).

Why the above list is completely lacking in any credibility (NY Times).

Drug makers are close to getting what they want, a legal shield from liability, even when they mislead (NYT).

Apple tries to take a bite of the Big Apple, files copyright claim against NYC (TUAW).

The European Commision wants EU citizens to be able to file American-style anti-trust class actions, via Fark.

One in Fifteen children will be harmed some sort of medical mishap (The Denver Post).

San Francisco is suing a provider of arbitration services, alleging bias.  Because in only 0.2% of cases do the arbiters find for the consumer (Wall Street … Continue Reading

More on the disputed legality of downloading (Wired).

A couple is suing Google for the affront of placing their home on Google Street view, from the Smoking Gun (also Wired and WSJ Law Blog).

Professor claims student’s lecture notes violate his copyright (Wired).

In the mail, David’s Hammer: The Case for an Activist Judiciary.

Interesting clauses in ISP fine print.  Apparently, ISPs hide a lot in the fine print, some of which bans by fiat perfectly legitimate conduct.  For example, backing up your hard drive.