Before I get into the Media Law Case of the Week, I want to mention the great progress the federal shield law has made. It passed in the House. (For more specifics of what’s in it, see here.) Now on to the Senate. Fingers crossed…
And now, the case of the week has to do with invasion of privacy, a college student and My Space, the popular social networking site.
A California appellate court ruled last week that thoughts posted on My Space are not private.
The ruling stems from the interesting case of a college student who professed her hatred of her hometown on her My Space page. Her rant ran in a local paper, and her family was allegedly bombarded with hate mail.
Claiming invasion of privacy, the student and her family sued the paper, its publishers and the person who pointed out the student’s My Space musings to the newspaper. They claimed invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
They lost.
For full details of the case, including a link to the court’s ruling, see the Wall Street Journal piece here.
journajunkie 