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FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet. Specifically, the EU antitrust investigation is seeking to find out from companies that advertise via Google if they were asked by Google to increase their advertising spending on the site in exchange for better prominence in Internet search results. Furthermore, an effort is being made to understand whether Google sought to get in the way of companies that sought to take their advertising business to other places on the Internet....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet. Since the internet expanded beyond the narrow confines of the military and a few educational institutions and became a more general phenomenon, there has been concern about the internet haves and have nots. There has been talk about the digital divide – meaning those who already have greater resources will get further ahead by virtue of internet access, leaving those without resources and access even more behind and in the dust....

Maine Gov. Paul LePage took a page from President Trump, and that was the problem. The president blocked people from his Twitter account, and a judge said that violated the First Amendment. LePage blocked people from his Facebook page, and another judge said he violated the First Amendment. It’s hard to believe some high officials know so little about the First Amendment. In Leuthy v. LePage, it didn’t seem to surprise the court....

In habeas proceedings claiming that petitioner’s Fifth Amendment rights were violated by being punished twice for the same offense, district court’s denial of the petition is affirmed where: 1) applying AEDPA, state courts’ adjudication of the double jeopardy claim was not “contrary to,” or an “unreasonable application of, clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States”; and 2) the appellate court did not unreasonably determine that defendant’s abduction of the victim was a distinct offense under Virginia law warranting separate punishment....

A federal appeals court pushed back construction of an Atlantic Coast pipeline, but that’s not stopping the main contractor on the project. The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals said a permit for the project was inadequate to protect environmental concerns. Plaintiffs’ lawyers say all work must stop, but the lead developer is pushing forward. In the meantime, the appeals court said it will address the particulars of the construction soon....

It is a little awkward, but sometimes you have to ask: “Do you have protection?” Of course, we’re talking about liability insurance for the board. It could protect against much more embarrassing questions later, such as: “What are your personal assets?” These questions are just as important in the boardroom as any other room. If you are the company attorney, it’s your job to ask them. Your Board’s Liability Most responsible companies have director and officer liability insurance policies, but the lawyers have to read them....

About a month before its 2009 theatrical release, Gilberto Sanchez uploaded a bootleg copy of X-Men Origins: Wolverine to popular download site Megaupload. The industry was in a tizzy – how would this affect sales? The film went on to gross $373 million worldwide, but Fox still vowed to prosecute the Wolverine pirate to the fullest. Sanchez ended up pleading guilty in March, and has now been sentenced. He will serve 1 year in a federal prison and 1 year of supervised release during which his computer use will be restricted....

The old wisdom against suing your client is giving way to a new normal. According to recent reports, more BigLaw firms are breaking the old mold and suing their clients for unpaid fees. They say clients expect more of them, and so lawyers should expect more from their clients. This trend is happening at a time when law firm revenues are down and new lawyer expectations are up. In other words, it is about money after all....

Getting pegged by your firm’s partners to give a PowerPoint presentation can be nerve-racking. Putting together the slides is always a hassle, but presenting your show is even worse. MyPoint is a free app designed to make it a little easier. Developed by Didonai LLC, the app turns your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch into a fully functional PowerPoint remote control. However, the program lets you do more than just click through slides....

Good writing is often simple writing. That maxim works as well for legal writing as it does for ‘The Old Man and the Sea.’ But as lawyers, it’s easy to let simplicity get lost under a pile of legal complexities, terms of art, and subordinate clause after subordinate clause. In the process, your writing can sometimes become almost unreadable, even to other lawyers. Thankfully, there are a few ways to quickly and simply check your work’s readability – and to fix it up if it’s becoming a bit too complex....

Tort reform has been a popular political topic for years. Corporate defense lawyers frequently support measures for capping tort damages, and plaintiffs’ attorneys criticize that such policies favor businesses over individuals. The dominant issue in the tort reform debate is whether — or how — noneconomic damages for intangible injuries, (e.g., pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of consortium or companionship), should be limited. Now, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is wading into the tort reform discussion to address the Magnolia State’s statute limiting damages, the Mississippi Business Journal reports....

Faced with the “devastating impact” of the $85 billion in sequestration cuts on the federal judiciary, the Eleventh Circuit did what any responsible circuit facing budget cuts would do: O.K., that’s not a completely fair assessment of the situation, but it is certainly a valid perception of the Eleventh Circuit’s Judicial Conference, which took place recently at the Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort and Spa, where “Southern charm meets modern luxury....

Justice has been served and nothing that happened at the lower federal level warranted a reversal of James “Whitey” Bulger’s convictions arising out of his participation with 11 murders and his East Coast criminal enterprise. One of the issues critical to the case concerned Bulger’s claim that he was promised immunity by the former federal prosecutor. The First Circuit Court affirmed the lower court decision and found that Bulger failed to prove that the promise ever took place....

The ghost of Wal-Mart v. Dukes rides again in this class action case from the Fourth Circuit. The plaintiffs are black South Carolina steel workers alleging racial discrimination. At this point in the litigation, the Fourth Circuit wasn’t even dealing with the merits of the case. As with Wal-Mart, the operative question is whether the steel workers have formed a coherent class. Unlike the ultimate disposition of Wal-Mart, however, the Fourth Circuit held that the workers at Nucor Steel had formed a class....

The past few years have seen a major change in public attitudes towards and legal protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals. Last year, gay rights advocates won a stunning victory in the Supreme Court, as the Court recognized a constitutional right to marriage equality. This week, the Obama administration squared off against North Carolina, over the legal protections afforded transgender individuals. These changes have a significant effect on the workplace, requiring updated policies or leading to new anti-discrimination suits, for example....

In an action brought by Muslim inmates in the custody of the Massachusetts Department of Corrections (DOC) alleging the Commissioner violated their right to freely exercise their religion, grant of an injunction in favor of inmates is affirmed where the district court did not abuse its decision in denying Commissioner’s motion for reconsideration as the Commissioner sought to introduce evidence that could have been introduced at trial but chose not to....

There are plenty of white collar criminals out there: insider traders, embezzlers, nearly all of FIFA. But there are also plenty of people who stumble into corruption, not because they are corrupt, but because there is not a strong enough ethical system in their workplace. How can in-house counsel insure that otherwise ethical businesspeople don’t stray into illegal practices? Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, has some advice – and if anyone is qualified to talk about white collar crime, it’s him....

Bill Maher and Donald Trump have a bit of a feud going on. While it hasn’t reached Biggie-2Pac status yet, it has resulted in a $5 million dollar lawsuit stemming from comments Maher made about Trump’s mother having sex with an orangutan, reports CNN. Classy. It’s now what you’re expecting either. This isn’t a defamation claim - it’s a breach of contract claim. Well played, Mr. Trump. Cooley sent a follow-up letter eight days later when the donations were not made, and filed a lawsuit earlier this week to enforce the breached contract....

Does Elon Musk really have anything to worry about since being subpoenaed by the Securities and Exchange Commission? After all, he has dominated doing everything from cars to solar power to spacecraft to tunnels. Maybe the submarine didn’t work out, but that’s business. But then his net worth hit an all-time high after tweeting he was “considering taking Tesla private.” And that’s why the SEC wants to talk to him....

Can employees be disciplined for using a work email account to discuss or conduct union activities? A 2007 decision of the National Labor Relations Board called Register Guard said that a facially neutral email policy prohibiting all “nonjob-related solicitations” didn’t violate the National Labor Relations Act. Last week, the NLRB reversed course, declaring in Purple Communications that “the Register Guard analysis was clearly incorrect.” The NLRB’s ruling comes with some caveats....