Week 9 Articles
Violation of Publicity Rights Before Delivered?
Network Solutions recently suspended a controversial website held by Dutch politician Geert Wilders who planned to use the site to host an anti-Islamic themed movie. Although network solutions hasn’t commented on exactly how it determined that the movie (Fitna) may be in violation of its Acceptable Policy Agreement (which also includes thorough privacy and rights of publicity clauses).
As we’ve been discussing in class, privacy and right of publicity cases can get very murky when dealing with specific contexts. In this case, the volatile area of religion (especially Islam) opens up a broad range of sub issues and special considerations. On top of that, International cases are even more complex in scope due to the multiple jurisdiction areas and country laws. Whether this turns out to be a privacy violation, rights of publicity violation (or a combination thereof) remains to be seen, but it is an intriguing case entangling media, religion and law.
Is Privacy Still an Expectation?
Is it? According to InformationWeek’s Terry Sweeny , it may not be. In his recent privacy review, he covered (in retrospect) recent privacy hotspots (including Britney Spears’s medical file snooping, and presidential candidtae passport snooping).
As we discussed in class 18, privacy seems to becoming less of an expectation, and more like a side dish (excuse my usage of metaphors). As means for privacy invasion increases with the development of technology, we could very well be heading for an era where access outweighs privacy.
Rap CEO J Prince sues for Defamation
The CEO of popular rap label (Rap-A Lot) and an employee have filed a defamation suit against Apple, contesting an iTunes download for American Gangster portrays them as murderers. Prince’s biggest claim is that the widespread distribution of his product has damaged a hard-earned reputation he worked to achieve (especially those in the Houston community).
This suit serves as a testament to how the digital downloading business has placed tech vendors such as Apple, and even Microsoft in the awkward position of facing similar content-based reliability cases that traditional publishers have looked down for years. As we discussed in class 19, the terrain for defamation suits is changing about as fast as the times are.
