Trailblazing Email Privacy Bill Proposed in Texas
Mary Grinman – Edited by Natalie Kim

On May 27, 2013, the Texas State Senate and House signed H.B. 2268. The legislation requires state law enforcement agents to secure a warrant before accessing emails and other “electronic customer data.” H.B. 2268 at 3–4. It also permits warrants on out-of-state service providers that do business with a Texas resident in certain circumstances. Id. at 9. The bill closes the loophole of the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), which allows warrantless access to emails opened or older than 180 days.

Unwanted Exposure: Civil and Criminal Liability for Revenge Porn Hosts and Posters

Written by: Susanna Lichter
Edited by: Suzanne Van Arsdale

Hollie Toups, the first named plaintiff in Toups v. GoDaddy, was harassed for weeks after nude pictures of her appeared on the website Texxxan.com alongside her real name and a link to her Facebook profile. When Toups requested that Texxxan.com remove the pictures, she was told by the website that they could help in exchange for her credit card information.[i] Texxxan.com is a “revenge porn” or “involuntary porn” website.[ii]

District Court Grants Summary Judgment to YouTube in Viacom v. YouTube (Again)

Viacom Int’l Inc. v. YouTube, Inc.
By Pio Szamel – Edited by Laura Fishwick

On April 18, 2013 the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York once again granted summary judgment for YouTube in Viacom Int’l Inc. v. YouTube, Inc., on remand from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Louis L. Stanton held that YouTube did not have any actual knowledge of any specific infringements of the Viacom content in suit, nor was it willfully blind to any such specific infringements.

Flash Digest: News in Brief

By Ron Gonski

House Passes CISPA

Federal Circuit Renews K-Tech Communications Lawsuit Against DirecTV

Government Squashes Dozens of Patents a Year for National Security Reasons

S.D.N.Y Holds that the First Sale Doctrine Does not Permit the Resale of a Digital Music File

Capitol Records, LLC v. ReDigi Inc.
By Charlie Stiernberg – Edited by Andrew Crocker

Internet startup ReDigi—“the world’s first and only online marketplace for digital used music”—recently suffered a setback in the rollout of its digital music resale platform. Judge Sullivan for the District Court for the Southern District of New York granted plaintiff Capitol Records’ motion for partial summary judgment on its claims for defendant ReDigi’s direct, contributory, and vicarious infringement.