Free Republic

division of the Teamsters union has signaled it's not going to be railroaded into paying the legal fees of Las Vegas online copyright enforcement company Righthaven LLC. The Cleveland-based Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, part of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters' railroad unit, was sued for copyright infringement Oct. 12 in federal court in Las Vegas by Righthaven.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal's copyright enforcement company no longer wants to litigate one of its more controversial cases: a complaint against the big political website the Democratic Underground. Righthaven LLC on Aug. 10 sued the website after a message-board poster copied to the site four paragraphs of a 34-paragraph May 13 Review-Journal story about Republican Nevada U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle titled "Tea Party power fuels Angle." The post by Democratic Underground website user "pampango" credited the information to the Review-Journal and included a link to the rest of the story on the Review-Journal website. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)...

"Apple Inc. was ordered by a jury to pay damages to Mirror Worlds LLC for infringing patents related to how documents are displayed on a computer screen," Susan Decker reports for Bloomberg. "The federal jury in Tyler, Texas, awarded $208.5 million in damages for each of the patents infringed. The verdict form was unclear as to whether the amount applies to the three patents collectively or would be charged individually. Lawyers for closely held Mirror Worlds declined to discuss the verdict," Decker reports. MacDailyNews Take: Tyler, Texas. Rocket Docket. Decker reports, "Mirror Worlds, a software business started by a Yale...

California Highway Patrol officers say their patrol car acted as a brake for a Toyota Prius with a stuck accelerator Monday. The car, headed eastbound on Interstate 8, was going at a high rate of speed because the accelerator was stuck, according to CHP spokesperson Brian Pennings. The patrol car moved in front of the Prius and engaged its brakes to bring the Prius to a stop, according to CHP. The car eventually stopped on the highway near the La Posta Bridge in the area of the Golden Acorn Casino.

Yesterday on our local news in Charleston SC it was announced that in November’s Berkeley County ballot, a referendum is going to be added to vote on a PENNEY FEE increase we would have to pay, if passed. What was the reason for the PENNY FEE? They blamed the proposed increase because of high gas prices, that’s right, people were forced to conserve on gas so they want the public tax payers to pick up the tab because our conservation of gas was hurting county revenues. My question is what are THEY doing to conserve on fuel or ANYTHING? Will...

Let’s consider a time, within living memory, when the country really was dealing with a crisis. A friend recently stumbled across a 1040 from the year 1943. There were a few things going on that year.

At long last, there's good news in the fight against "jackpot justice" tort claims and the nefarious law firms that file them. In courts and legislatures across the country, fraudulent lawsuits are being exposed, and the abusive tort lawyers that file them are finally getting a taste of their own medicine. Most notable is the recent indictment of Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman, the nation's most notorious class-action law firm. For four decades, Milberg Weiss has filed hundreds of dubious class-action lawsuits and wrung billions of dollars from terrified companies. Now, a federal grand jury in Los Angeles has indicted...

Vancouver — The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal ruled yesterday that a Roman Catholic men's group, the Knights of Columbus, was entitled to turn away a lesbian couple who wanted to hold a wedding reception in their facility. But in a decision that upset both sides in the dispute, the three-member tribunal also decided that the Catholic group had affronted the same-sex couple's dignity, feelings and self-respect, and that it should pay $2,000 to the two women to compensate for their injuries. The tribunal upheld the religious freedom of the Knights of Columbus while reinforcing protections against discrimination on the basis...

Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids: Government Allowed to Seek $280 Billion in Illegal Tobacco Industry Profits 5/24/2004 3:35:00 PM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: National and Business desks Contact: Joel Spivak of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, 202-296-5469 WASHINGTON, May 24 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Following is a statement by William V. Corr, executive director, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids: "U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler has handed the tobacco industry a major legal setback by ruling that the federal government can continue to seek $280 billion in illegally obtained industry profits as part of its racketeering lawsuit against the industry. Tobacco companies had sought a narrow...

Nov. 9 — Those public service lawyers are at it again — they're out "protecting your rights" — in this case they're enforcing the Americans With Disabilities Act. Lawyers complain the Wildside Adult Sports Cabaret in West Palm Beach, Fla., violates the act, because among other things, a stairwell in the club prevents people in wheelchairs from getting a lap dance upstairs. No matter that you can get a lap dance downstairs. He says that room isn't good enough. It's still "discrimination," says the suit, causing "emotional distress." And the club must pay "damages" … and Anthony Brady's legal fees....