Clipmarks | wiccantexan's 'legal' clips

Protective order protects sensitive YouTube user data

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 22:33:51 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Google has been ordered to turn over YouTube user data to Viacom. But Viacom will be guilty of contempt of court if it uses that data for anything other than specifically proving the prevalence of piracy on YouTube, a source close to Viacom told CNET News.com on Thursday.

That's serious business. Contempt of court is the sort of thing that can get a lawyer's license taken away.

On Wednesday night, a federal judge ruled that Google must turn over YouTube user activity--videos watched, IP addresses, usernames--to legal foe Viacom as part of a long-running copyright infringement case. But the source told CNET News.com that a heavy protective order is in place that will keep individuals' personal information cloaked.

The court's protective order stipulates that data turned over to Viacom by Google must be used for the sole purpose of proving Viacom's claim against Google that YouTube is a hotbed of pirated video content,

Viacom will not have direct access to the YouTube user data

Tags: youtube, privacy, google, legal, internet, video

Naked Cowboy, 1; naked M&M, 0

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 23:31:47 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

I like it when I'm right, especially about naked men. Especially about naked cowboys.

When I wrote in April that the lawsuit filed by Robert Burck "may be the end of the era of the "naked" cowboy and predicted he would be able to afford some "very nice duds," my fellow lawyers laughed at me.

One close friend -- let's call him Larry -- said as he snickered, "I read your article. You can't be serious. You really think that the Naked Cowboy is going to cash in? Well, I predict he is going to get thrown out of court. If he doesn't, maybe I will start walking around my office in my tighty whities."

Last week, U.S. District Court Judge Denny Chin didn't throw the cowboy from his steed. In fact, in a lengthy decision, Judge Chin ruled against the makers of M&Ms, rejecting Mars, Inc.'s attempt to dismiss the Cowboy's lawsuit. And it seems that Judge Chin has a sense of humor.

Tags: humor, legal, new york, new york city, music, entertainment

Court: Exorcism is protected by law

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 20:43:31 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

The Texas Supreme Court on Friday threw out a jury award over injuries a 17-year-old girl suffered in an exorcism conducted by members of her old church, ruling that the case unconstitutionally entangled the court in religious matters.

In a 6-3 decision, the justices found that a lower court erred when it said the Pleasant Glade Assembly of God's First Amendment rights regarding freedom of religion did not prevent the church from being held liable for mental distress triggered by a "hyper-spiritualistic environment."

Laura Schubert testified in 2002 that she was cut and bruised and later experienced hallucinations after the church members' actions in 1996, when she was 17. Schubert said she was pinned to the floor for hours and received carpet burns during the exorcism, the Austin American-Statesman reported. She also said the incident led her to mutilate herself and attempt suicide. She eventually sought psychiatric help.

Tags: church, legal, religion, exorcism

Court Rules Against Work E-mail Snooping

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 23:50:26 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.cbsnews.com

(AP) A federal appeals court has made it more difficult for employers to snoop legally on e-mails and text messages their workers send from company accounts.

Under Wednesday's ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, employers that contract an outside business to transmit text messages can't read them unless the worker agrees.

Users of text-messaging services "have a reasonable expectation of privacy" regarding messages stored on the service provider's network, Judge Kim Wardlaw wrote in the three-judge panel's unanimous opinion.

The ruling limits employers' access to employee e-mail on internal servers.

The text-message part of the ruling will affect more employers than the e-mail portion because most U.S. companies pay outside parties for text-messaging but keep e-mail on internal servers, analysts said.

"The extent to which the Fourth Amendment provides protection for the contents of electronic communications in the Internet Age is an open question," she wrote.

Tags: email, employment, legal, text, privacy

Pagan Symbols On Fence Must Go, City Insists

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 00:49:43 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan
clipper's remarks: If it looks like graffiti, depicted like graffiti - it's graffiti. What an idiot.

Clip Source: www.desmoinesregister.com

A Des Moines couple say city officials have attacked their pagan religion and their civil rights after a complaint from a neighbor led to a notice to remove symbols that had been painted on the fence. Officials said the symbols are graffiti and must be removed.

"Those are religious symbols; they're not mean or obnoxious in any way," said Ryle MacPebbles who lives in the 2000 block of Southeast Sixth Street. "I just don't like them telling me my religion isn't anything.

"When they start making it personal with my religion, I'm sorry, we'll take it to court," said MacPebbles, a member of the American Pagan Church.

The MacPebbleses said a city inspector approved the fence earlier this year.

"When he said the fence is OK, he said the fence is constructed correctly," said Ben Bishop, neighborhood inspections administrator. "Our position is this was graffiti and it was inappropriate."

Tags: pagan, religion, belief, legal, civil rights, city, neighborhood

Huge Confederate Flag to Fly Over Tampa

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 02:13:30 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: abcnews.go.com

The i's are dotted, t's are crossed and a 139-foot flagpole is ready to fly the Stars and Bars over one of the busiest highway interchanges in Florida.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans in Tampa plan soon to raise what they claim is the world's largest Confederate flag on a private triangle of land tucked near where Interstates 75 and 4 meet. The flag measures 50 feet by 30 feet.

To some, particularly across many Southern states, the rebel flag represents a rich heritage that includes fighting and dying for the Confederate cause during the Civil War. To others, the flag represents dark memories attached to slavery and racial inequality.

The flag will be the group's third in the state, but will be not only the largest, but will also fly square in the middle of one of the most highly-trafficked intersections in the state.

Tags: south, flag, confederate, legal, florida, history

Court: Texas wrongly seized sect children

Thu, 22 May 2008 23:52:41 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

In a ruling that could torpedo the case against the West Texas polygamist sect, a state appeals court Thursday said authorities had no right to seize more than 440 children in a raid on the splinter group's ranch last month.

It was unclear how many children were affected by the ruling. The state took 464 children into custody in April, but Thursday's ruling directly applied to the children of 48 sect mothers represented by the Texas Rio Grande Legal Aide, said Cynthia Martinez of the agency. About 200 parents are involved in the polygamy case.

The Third Court of Appeals in Austin ruled that the state offered "legally and factually insufficient" grounds for the "extreme" measure of removing all children from the ranch, from babies to teenagers.

The state never provided evidence that the children were in any immediate danger, the only grounds in Texas law for taking children from their parents without court approval, the appeals court said.

Tags: texas, religion, belief, children, flds, polygamy, legal, parents

Jodie Foster and partner split

Thu, 15 May 2008 05:05:08 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.woai.com

Actress Jodie Foster has split with her longterm partner Cydney Bernard, according to tabloid reports.

The news comes just five months after the intensely private star paid tribute to her alleged partner of 14 years at an award ceremony.

An insider tells the National Enquirer, "Jodie breaking up with Cydney is shocking. Right now it's the best kept secret in Hollywood, and it's not just because Jodie is legend and an intensely private person, either."

"She and Cydney have been together for so many years and have two children together, the potential fallout and legal wrangling from this split could be monumental."

Tags: hollywood, celebrity, gay, actor

Greece Sued Over Sectarian Prayer

Wed, 14 May 2008 01:19:46 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan
clipper's remarks: Note: Greece here is a town in the United States, not the country.

Clip Source: www.democratandchronicle.com

In just a few seconds' time during the April Town Board meeting, Jennifer Zarpentine made Greece history.

Zarpentine, a Wiccan, delivered the first-ever pagan prayer to open a meeting of the Greece Town Board.

Her hands raised to the sky, she called upon Greek deities Athena and Apollo to "help the board make the right informed decisions for the benefit and greater good of the community."

Greece is embroiled in a legal battle over the prayers delivered before the meetings. In March, national church-state watchdog group Americans United for Separation of Church and State, filed suit against the town in state Supreme Court.

their

The suit claims the practice of allowing explicitly religious prayers — regardless of the religion — during the public meetings is a violation of the U.S. Constitution.

Tags: religion, belief, legal, wicca, prayer

Court backs artist over naked goddess

Sun, 11 May 2008 06:03:04 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: entertainment.timesonline.co.uk

Criminal charges levelled against India's leading living artist for an allegedly obscene depiction of a Hindu goddess have been quashed in a ruling that says religious extremism risks pushing the country into a "pre-Renaissance era".

Maqbool Fida Husain, 92, a Muslim who has been dubbed "the Picasso of India", was served with seven private criminal complaints by Hindu groups for the painting Bharat Mata (Mother India), a work representing the nation as a nude woman. The Delhi High Court judged that the picture, for which Mr Husain has apologised, carried no religious content and could not be construed as offensive.

Akhil Sibal, Mr Husain's lawyer, told The Times that the ruling was an important step, "ensuring artistic freedoms are not made victims at the hands of extremists".

Tags: goddess, art, artist, hindu, muslim, religion, legal

Wis. school district will allow religious expression in art

Sat, 03 May 2008 02:54:15 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.firstamendmentcenter.org

The Tomah School District has agreed to permit religious expression in student artwork in response to a federal lawsuit.

The Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal advocacy group, sued the district in March on behalf of a Tomah High School student. ADF alleged an art teacher gave the student a zero on an assigned drawing of a landscape because the student included a cross and the words "John 3:16 A sign of love."

The teacher cited a class policy that prohibited any expressions of violence, blood, sex or religious beliefs in artwork. The lawsuit alleged the student was treated unfairly because of his religion.

Students still will be barred from including gang symbols, violence, blood and sex in their work. But they will be allowed to express their religious beliefs as long as it satisfies the assignment criteria.

Tags: art, artist, religion, public, school, christian, legal, policy, belief

Atheist soldier claims harassment

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 04:06:46 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

But the short and soft-spoken specialist is at the center of a legal controversy. He has filed a lawsuit alleging that he's been harassed and his constitutional rights have been violated because he doesn't believe in God. The suit names Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Known as "the atheist guy," Hall has been called immoral, a devil worshipper and -- just as severe to some soldiers -- gay, none of which, he says, is true. Hall even drove fellow soldiers to church in Iraq and paused while they prayed before meals.

It wasn't until he joined the Army that he began questioning religion, eventually deciding that he couldn't follow any faith.

It eventually came out in Iraq in 2007, when he was in a firefight. Hall was a gunner on a Humvee, which took several bullets in its protective shield. Afterward, his commander asked whether he believed in God, Hall said.

"I said, 'No, but I believe in Plexiglas,' " Hall said.

Tags: military, soldier, religion, belief, atheism, god, army

Okla. House passes bill to protect student religious expression

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 23:53:12 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.firstamendmentcenter.org

Legislation that protects students' rights to express their religious viewpoints in public school classrooms was approved by the Oklahoma House yesterday despite objections from opponents who said it was unnecessary.

Sullivan said the measure did not favor one religion over another and did not violate the legal prohibition against public school officials sanctioning a religious point of view.

The measure says school districts must treat a student's voluntary expression of a religious viewpoint the same way it treats a student's voluntary expression of a viewpoint on another subject. It also says the school may not discriminate against a student on the basis of a religious viewpoint.

"Students may express their beliefs about religion in homework, artwork and other written and oral assignments free from discrimination based on the religious content of their submissions," the measure states.

Tags: religion, belief, school, student, government

Parents Don't Have Constitutional Right To Home-School Kids

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 03:56:42 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.firstamendmentcenter.org

California parents without teaching credentials cannot legally home-school their children, according to a recent state appellate court ruling.

“Parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children,” Justice H. Walter Croskey wrote in a Feb. 28 opinion for the 2nd District Court of Appeal.

Noncompliance could lead to criminal complaints against the parents, Croskey said.

The parents in the case had argued that they had a First Amendment right to home-school their children, but the appeals court rejected that argument.

To earn a five-year preliminary teaching credential in California, a person must obtain a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university and complete multiple examinations.

Until now, California allowed home-schooling if parents filed paperwork to establish themselves as small, private schools; hired a credentialed tutor; or enrolled their child in an independent study program run by an established school while teaching the child at home.

Tags: homeschooling, parenting, california, constitution, teaching, legal

Gay Iranian Faces Death or Deportation

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 18:07:50 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: abcnews.go.com

Two gay Iranians living in Britain say they fear for their lives after their partners were sentenced to death by Iranian authorities and their requests for asylum in Britain were denied.

Advocates for Mehdi Kazemi, 19, and Pegah Emambakhsh, 40, say they will face harsh physical punishment, prison, and possible execution if forced to return Iran.

The two cases have provoked an international public outcry and have increased scrutiny of British policies toward gay and lesbian asylum-seekers.

While studying English and science in the U.K., Kazemi learned that his boyfriend had been executed for sodomy back in Iran. His father told him the boyfriend had confessed to Iranian authorities that Kazemi was his lover.

A British judge denied Kazemi's request for asylum in 2006 on the grounds that Iran does not systematically persecute homosexuals.

But human rights activists say that is only because the Iranian government does not officially recognize homosexuality.

Tags: gay, iran, death, deportation, legal, asylum, britain, international