Drew, 50, was accused of participating in a cyberbullying scheme against 13-year-old Megan Meier who later committed suicide. The case against Drew hinged on the government’s novel argument that violating MySpace’s terms of service was the legal equivalent of computer hacking. But U.S. District Judge George Wu found the premise troubling.
“It basically leaves it up to a website owner to determine what is a crime,” said Wu on Thursday, echoing what critics of the case have been saying for months. “And therefore it criminalizes what would be a breach of contract.”
Friday, July 3, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
A top Indian court has issued a landmark ruling decriminalising gay sex between consenting adults, overturning colonial-era legislation that outlawed homosexuality.
The New Delhi High Court ruled that an existing statute prohibiting homosexual acts was discriminatory and therefore a “violation of fundamental rights” accorded under the constitution.
The statute in question is a British colonial-era law outlawing “carnal intercourse against the order of nature.” Conviction carried a fine and a maximum 10-year jail sentence.
A US judge has banned publication of a book promoted as a sequel to JD Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye.
US District Judge Deborah Batts ruled that Swedish author Fredrik Colting’s novel too closely mirrored Mr Salinger’s 1951 classic.
Mr Salinger brought the lawsuit against Mr Colting, with his lawyers calling the book a “rip-off pure and simple”.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Federal drug regulators warned Wednesday that patients taking two popular stop-smoking drugs should be watched closely for signs of serious mental illness, as reported suicides among the drugs’ users mount.
But officials emphasized that patients should not be scared away from taking the smoking-cessation medicines, Chantix, made by Pfizer, and Zyban, made by GlaxoSmithKline.
“Stopping smoking is a goal we should all be working towards,” said Dr. Curt Rosebraugh, director of a drug evaluation office at the F.D.A. “We don’t want to scare people off from trying a medication that could help them achieve this goal. You should just be careful.”
The F.D.A. required Pfizer and Glaxo to place so-called black box warnings — the agency’s most serious caution — on the prescribing information for both drugs. Both companies will be required to conduct clinical trials to assess the mental health risks associated with the drugs’ uses.
Finally, and only eight months late. To the best of my knowledge, Franken is the first former-member of Saturday Night Live to join the ranks of federal politics.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
There are reports of other survivors, including the Captain, but so far this is the only one officials are confirming.
US troops are withdrawing from towns and cities in Iraq, six years after the invasion, having formally handed over security duties to new Iraqi forces.
A public holiday - National Sovereignty Day - has been declared, and the capital, Baghdad, threw a giant party to mark the eve of the changeover.
US-led combat operations are due to end by September 2010, with all troops gone from Iraq by the end of 2011.
Iraqi troops are on the alert for insurgent attacks during the handover.
Despite the pullback from cities and towns, due to be completed on Tuesday, US troops will still be embedded with Iraqi forces.
A Yemeni airliner with 153 people on board has crashed in the Indian Ocean near the Comoros archipelago.
Some bodies have been spotted, a Yemeni aviation official said, and wreckage of the plane located. It is not clear whether there were survivors.
The Airbus 310 flight IY626, operated by Yemeni carrier Yemenia Air, was flying from the Yemeni capital Sanaa.
It is not clear what caused the crash but officials say there was bad weather in the area at the time.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
“Television pitchman Billy Mays — who built his fame by appearing on commercials and infomercials promoting household products and gadgets — died Sunday, FOX News confirms.
Mays was found unresponsive by his wife inside his Tampa, Fla., home at 7:45 a.m. on Sunday, according to the Tampa Police Department.
Police said there were no signs of forced entry to May’s residence and foul play is not suspected. Authorities said an autopsy should be complete by Monday afternoon.” (via:foxnews)
