Internet postings, whether truthful or defamatory, tend to take on a life of their own. A federal court in Pennsylvania recently gave a successful defamation plaintiff the right to ask Internet search engines to remove defamatory content.
Shortly after purchasing the domain , Richard Gorman found he and his business became the subject of allegedly libelous posts. Gorman was able to identify, then sue Karl Steinborn (among others) for defamation. Steinborn failed to answer and Gorman obtained a default judgment against him. The court entered a permanent injunction against Steinborn that included the following clause:
“Plaintiff [Gorman] may submit this Order to internet search engines, including but not limited to Google, to have this link [to the defamatory content] removed from internet search results . . . which defame Plaintiff both personally, and professionally.”
Whether the order will effectively remove the libelous content remains to be seen, but it represents a step in the right direction for online defamation plaintiffs.
Access the court’s order here. Contact us at Ossian Law regarding any information technology law question.
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Ownership and Control of Digital Assets
Wed., June 24th, 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. **NEW DATE**
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Who “owns” the corporate Twitter account? What happens if the social media account manager leaves? Who will inherit your online photo library or other “digital assets”? Can your wishes be trumped by website terms of use? These and other questions will be explored during this informative session. Get tips for protecting corporate and personal digital assets from IT Attorney Kathy Ossian and Estate Planning Attorney Rachel Tucker. Free admission includes heavy hors d’oeuvres. Register here
The Many Sides of Big Data
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How does the proliferation of data impact your business? Do your privacy policies reflect your actual data collection practices? How do your vendors use and share your customer or employee information? Can anonymized data be “re-identified”? These and other questions will be addressed by Information Technology Attorney Kathy Ossian in this informative session. Legal issues of Big Data will be explored from the data collector/aggregator, data subject and regulatory perspectives. Free admission includes continental breakfast. Seats are limited, so register here today!
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