En Banc 5th Circuit: Child Porn Victims Can Get Restitution from Possessors
AP: Child pornography victims can recover money from people convicted of viewing their abuse without having to show a link between the crime and their injuries, a federal appeals court ruled Monday. | In re: Amy Unknown (For the reasons above, we reject the approach of our sister circuits and hold that § 2259 imposes no generalized proximate cause requirement before a child pornography victim may recover restitution from a defendant possessing images of her abuse)
Pricing Amy: Should Those Who Download Child Pornography Pay the Victims?
Lorelei Laird at the ABA Journal: Under the Crime Victims’ Rights Act, the government must notify Amy and other child pornography victims anytime anyone is arrested by federal authorities for possessing their images. Her attorney, James Marsh of New York City, says his office has received at least 1,500 required notices of federal prosecutions for possession of those images. “The day after we were retained in 2008, we had someone open up all these notices she received in the calendar years 2006 and 2007,” Marsh says. “It took two days just to open the envelopes.” Using the restitution provisions of the Violence Against Women Act, Marsh has begun utilizing the courts to request financial restitution from those convicted of possessing images of Amy’s child sexual abuse.
Split 2nd Cir. Upholds Coach’s 30-Yr. Sentence For Sexting Child Porn, Guidelines Called for Life
National Law Journal: A divided federal appellate court has affirmed the 30-year prison sentence given to a former field hockey coach for soliciting pornographic images from a girl he coached and sharing them with another teen girl with whom he sought to have sex. | United States v. Broxmeyer, 10-5283-cr
7th Circuit: Embedded web videos don’t necessarily infringe copyright
Reuters: Appeals court overturns ban on video-sharing site
A video-sharing website that allows users to post links to copyrighted videos hosted on third-party sites is not infringing copyright laws, a federal appeals court ruled on Thursday.
Flava Works v. Gunter, No. 11-3190 (7th Cir. Aug. 2, 2012)
5th Circuit reinstates stiff sanctions against lawyer in porn copyright troll suit
Although Mick Haig had obtained their Internet Protocol (“IP”) addresses and the names of their internet service providers (“ISPs”), it knew no other information about those 670 persons. Mick Haig sued them as John Doe defendants (“the Does”), alleging copyright infringement. Mick Haig then sought permission to expedite discovery in order to subpoena the Does’ ISPs to disclose their names and contact information before the required Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(f) discovery conference . . .
2nd Circuit: Viewing child cyberporn online can be “possession”
Reuters: A New York man imprisoned for possessing and receiving child pornography cannot argue that he was wrongly convicted because he never stored the images on his computer, a federal appeals court has ruled. In an opinion on Monday, a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York considered for the first time whether viewing forbidden images on the Internet constitutes knowingly receiving and possessing them. | U.S. v. Ramos, No. 10-4802-cr
Supreme Court punts on big questions in Fox Television indecency case
FCC v. Fox Television Stations, No. 10-1293
Held: Because the Commission failed to give Fox or ABC fair notice prior to the broadcasts in question that fleeting expletives and momentary nudity could be found actionably indecent, the Commission’s standards as applied to these broadcasts were vague . . .
Utah Supreme Court upholds “harm to minors” conviction for nude drawings defendant sent to his 5 yr. old daughter
. . . the Utah Supreme Court upheld the convictions (see State v. Butt (Utah June 8, 2012)), reasoning . . . Here’s my question: Can a reasonable jury conclude that the defendant’s drawings appealed to a minor’s prurient (defined as “shameful or morbid”) interest in sex, and especially a 5-year-old girl’s interest in sex? . . .
WA: Federal Judge Ties Up Online Sex-Advertising Law
WIRED: A federal judge pre-emptively blocked a landmark state law that would have required online companies to verify the ages of people in ads offering “adult services,” which range from thinly-veiled ads for prostitution, as well as legal, but kinky services. | Backpage v. McKenna, No. C12-954-RSM (W.D. Wash.)
Federal Judge: Utah’s Harm to Minors Internet Law is Unconstitutional
Deseret News: The Utah law sought to make website operators or content providers liable for any material that the state deems harmful to minors. | Opinion: Florence v. Shurtleff, No. 2:05-cv-00485-DB-SA
