Communications & Media Law › Criminal Law

Twitter v. Manhattan DA Fight Unfortunately Ends with a Whimper

Last Friday, Twitter’s battle with the Manhattan District Attorney over a subpoena for an Occupy Wall Street protester’s tweets came to an anti-climactic end as the New York appeals court dismissed Twitter’s appeal of a...more

CFPB Investigation Leads to First Criminal Referral to DOJ

Following the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's investigation into the alleged fraudulent practices of a debt relief company, the CFPB and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced the...more

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network Issues Guidance on Virtual Currency

FinCEN recently issued interpretive guidance to clarify that it views certain activities involving convertible virtual currencies as money transmission services under the Bank Secrecy Act and FinCEN regulations....more

Can the Government Search Your iPad or iPhone at the Border?

Can the United States search your laptop, camera, iPhone/iPad, or other devices at the border? Read this article on the Fourth Amendment rights and exceptions....more

California Moves One Step Closer to Passing Privacy Bill Requiring a Search Warrant for Providers' Customers' Emails

In a 33-1 vote, on May 13, the state Senate approved Senator Mark Leno's bill that would require state law enforcement officials to obtain a search warrant before asking service providers to disclose the contents of their...more

DOJ Files First Criminal Action On CFPB Referral, CFPB Files Parallel Civil Suit

On May 7, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced mail and wire fraud charges against a debt settlement firm, its owner, and three of its employees. ...more

State of Alabama v. Carlos Edward Kennedy

ORDER REGARDING ELECTRONIC DEVICES AND CONTACT WITH JURORS, POTENTIAL JURORS AND WITNESSES

The trend around the nation is for judges to ban the use of laptops, I-Phones, Blackberries and other electronic devices whether used by reporters or the public to report on the trial. This Order allows their use in the 13th...more

Context, Content And Privacy In Warrantless Searches Of Cell Phone And Cameras

Context and content matters to the assessment of reasonable expectations of privacy in criminal law matters. Recently, in R. v. B. (C.), 2013 CarswellOnt 3851 (SCJ), P. Smith J. considered the constitutionality of a...more

Jackson Walker's VIA Media Postcard - April 2013

In This Issue: - Steve Fogle's Feature: Out of the Blue - A recent unexpected court order restricting the media from reporting on certain details of a high-profile criminal case serves as a reminder that the...more

Anti-counterfeiting strategies in the United States

Counterfeiting is a critical problem for trademark and copyright owners (‘IP owners’) affecting all industries, from pharmaceuticals and medical devices to electrical and auto products, toys and fashion items. To effectively...more

Man Gets Caught Through Facebook Post

An Oregon man learned that the best way to get caught committing a crime is to talk about it on Facebook. On New Year's Day police showed up at his door after they were alerted to a Facebook post he wrote about driving drunk....more

Cyber Crimes – When LOL Leads to OMG

As much as we may hate to admit it, many of us have an Internet addiction. Whether through Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, or LinkedIn, there are endless ways to stay in contact with others, share our thoughts and ideas, and find...more

DOJ Unseals Indictment Against Online Sports Wagering Operators and Affiliates

On April 10, 2013, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) unsealed an indictment against 34 individuals and 23 companies for their involvement with online sports wagers. According to the indictment, Legendz Sports,...more

The First Amendment and Off-Label Promotion: United States v. Caronia

For years, the U.S. Department of Justice has aggressively pursued and brought charges over “off-label promotions”—the promotion of drugs for uses that have not received FDA approval—by pharmaceutical manufacturers and their...more

Corrections Officer Posts Gory Injury Pic on Facebook

A correction officer at Rikers Island snapped a photo of a nasty wound which resulted from a random attack in the visitors’ center and shared it on Facebook with the caption of "The Things That Happens On The Island Shhh"....more

BB&K Police Chief Bulletin: Distracted Driving - Looking at Map on Cell Phone While Driving Violates “Hands-Free” Law

Overview: The Appellate Division of the Fresno County Superior Court recently held that using a cell phone solely for its map function violated the Vehicle Code. Section 23123(a) prohibits driving while “using” a cell phone...more

Internet Privacy Laws Under Debate

The explosive pace of new technology has enabled people to connect and communicate in ways never before possible. Lawmakers and Internet advocates must now tango with each other in a scramble to keep up with the technology...more

Levick Weekly - March 29, 2013: 6 Ways To Survive The U.S. Congress

In This Issue: - Financial Regulators Compete; JPMorgan Loses - Six Ways to Survive the U.S. Congress - How to Protect Your Brand from a Twitter Hacking - Blogs Worth Following - LEVICK In the News -...more

Supreme Court Rules Text Messages are Private Communications

The Supreme Court of Canada in R v. Telus has ruled that text messaging is essentially another form of conversation and should receive the same protection to which private communications are entitled under the Criminal Code....more

Court Upholds Executive’s Conviction Stemming from Off-Label Drug Promotion

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has upheld the wire fraud and misbranding convictions and sentence of InterMune Inc. founder W. Scott Harkonen. United States v. Harkonen, No. 11-10209 (9th Cir. March 4, 2013)....more

Pilfered Funds & The FCC’s Online Political Public File Rule: The Law Of Unintended Consequences

In recent months, a number of media buyers have had funds stolen from their bank accounts. Even after repeatedly opening and closing accounts to stop the theft, tens of thousands of dollars have been diverted to accounts...more

Two New Developments in First Amendment Challenges to Off-Label Promotion: What's Next?

Following the Second Circuit’s marquee First Amendment ruling in the Caronia case, two recent developments demonstrate a shift in the battleground for First Amendment challenges to the prohibition on off-label promotion under...more

Appeals Court Rejects Drug Company Executive’s First Amendment Defense and Upholds Wire Fraud Conviction

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in a recent unpublished opinion, upheld the conviction and sentencing of former InterMune, Inc. executive Scott Harkonen for wire fraud. In 2009, a jury...more

Ninth Circuit Affirms Prosecution for Off-label Marketing

Over the past two years, courts began to recognize that at least some off-label marketing is protected lawful commercial speech under the First Amendment. Specifically, the Second Circuit in New York in a case called United...more

Ninth Circuit Affirms Conviction in Harkonen, Rejects the Defendant’s “Off-Label” First Amendment Challenge

On March 4, 2013, a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued its opinion in United States v. Harkonen,1 a case in which the CEO of a pharmaceutical company was prosecuted for transmitting...more