ElSteevo 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (26)

• On the post: Is It A First Amendment Violation To Kick A Student Out Of Nursing School For Blogging About A Patient?

  

  ElSteevo ( profile ), 13 Apr, 2011 @ 09:24am

  Would constructively identifying a patient and revealing information violate HIPPA?

• On the post: Is It A First Amendment Violation To Kick A Student Out Of Nursing School For Blogging About A Patient?

  

  ElSteevo ( profile ), 13 Apr, 2011 @ 08:54am

  Re: Unconstitutional conditions

  Wow!
  
  Anonymous Coward wrote:
  
  "You no nothing. Your reasoning that there is no First Amendment violation because attendance is voluntary is flatly wrong."
  
  First, it's "I know nothing."
  Second, it would help if you could improve your reading comprehension, specifically the ability to understand the implication in the parenthetical following the sentence you quoted.
  Finally, it's "well settled case law," not "caselaw."
  
  I'm still of the opinion this case will be decided on Due Process grounds, but . . . I know nothing.

• On the post: Is It A First Amendment Violation To Kick A Student Out Of Nursing School For Blogging About A Patient?

  

  ElSteevo ( profile ), 13 Apr, 2011 @ 06:03am

  Re: But there is a Constitutional issue

  Quoted from a post above:
  "The university can't do that: the 1st Amendment isn't suspended because someone's a student somewhere."
  
  The university can do that because it's the student's choice to attend the university, thus it is really just a time, place and manner restriction. (Well, if it ever reaches the Supreme Court, that will be what's in the decision authored by Justice Thomas, and joined by four others in a 5-4 decision).
  
  The student can say whatever she wants, but there will be repercussions. Some MAY be for violating HIPPA, and some MAY be for violating school policy. (I can only gather that the restriction was for using social media).
  
  But . . .
  
  State school kicks you out without a hearing, thus depriving you of $$, which is property, can't do that without Due Process. But, it is well known that you must exhaust administrative remedies before resorting to a lawsuit. The student appealed the dismissal, which was denied, but did not take the next administrative step of filing an Academic Grievance (http://chronicle.com/article/Nursing-Student-Sues-After-U/42558/)
  
  Interestingly, since the District Court found in her favor in 2009, the student, a Ms. Yoder, was able to back to school, has graduated, and is now a nurse.
  
  
  What I learned here today:
  If your nurse is Nina Yoder, exercise your patients' rights, and ask that she not be allowed any access to you or your information, lest your sordid medical history ends up in a Blog somewhere.

• On the post: If You Say Something In Public, You Can Be Quoted And If You Say Something On Twitter, That's Public

  

  ElSteevo ( profile ), 03 Mar, 2011 @ 05:26am

  people who ignorantly subscribe

  The only thing that most of these people subscribe to is the motto "Ignorance is bliss."

• On the post: Tolkien Estate Says Just Mentioning Tolkien Infringes; Tolkien Censorwear Appears In Response

  

  ElSteevo ( profile ), 28 Feb, 2011 @ 10:00am

  Hey, the Levitts who built Levittown lost the right to use their own name.
  
  I wonder if a reprinting of "Bored of the Rings" is in the offing?

• On the post: Can A Judge Force A Juror To Reveal Facebook Account Info?

  

  ElSteevo ( profile ), 08 Feb, 2011 @ 01:47pm

  The guy may potentially face contempt charges for violating the judge's rules.
  
  What about the civil rights of the person on trial? If Ramirez posted a comment, and others responded to him might that not affect his decision. The comments could range from "if he's been arrested, he's guilty," to "you know cops only arrest the poor and guys they don't like so they can bully them to jail."
  
  Ramirez's rights don't exist in a vacuum, they have to be balanced with the rights of others. If the jury is tainted, how about a mistrial is declared. Then Ramirez should have to pick up the tab for defense counsel, the cost of the time of the judge, the cost of the court personnel, not to mention he should also compensate the other jurors.
  
  What other fair remedy would you have a judge attempt to fashion in this case?

• On the post: Politician Trespasses Into House Under Construction, Breaks Leg… Sues Owners

  

  ElSteevo ( profile ), 27 Jan, 2011 @ 10:03am

  Whether accurate or not this is what it says in paragraph 15 of the complaint:
  
  15. That prior to and around the time of the incident which caused the injuries herein, the Trolley Brook Estates Subdivision was advertised as a new housing development that was open to the public.
  
  It seems to me this must have been made up if he was charged with trespass. I was wondering "where is the paragraph citing that he was legally on the premises."
  
  The lawyer and Alesi are lucky this wasn't filed in Federal Court, where some attorneys were recently fined $4500 for filing an "idiotic" and baseless motion; the judge was the one who called it "idiotic."

• On the post: When Sending A Bogus TM C&D, Don't Send It To A Lawyer Who Understands TM Law

  

  ElSteevo ( profile ), 30 Dec, 2010 @ 11:42am

  Re: Re: Courtesy

  The 21st Century or even the 25th Century, isn't an excuse, Buck Rogers.

• On the post: When Sending A Bogus TM C&D, Don't Send It To A Lawyer Who Understands TM Law

  

  ElSteevo ( profile ), 30 Dec, 2010 @ 11:39am

  Re: Courtesy

  Trademark Knitter is absolutely correct with respect to the way these things should be handled.

• On the post: When Sending A Bogus TM C&D, Don't Send It To A Lawyer Who Understands TM Law

  

  ElSteevo ( profile ), 30 Dec, 2010 @ 11:38am

  Re: Re: Re: Its about the Benjamins

  "And what are the odds of any action against said lawyer?"
  Depends upon the jurisdiction and whether the disciplinary committee has any cojones.

• On the post: When Sending A Bogus TM C&D, Don't Send It To A Lawyer Who Understands TM Law

  

  ElSteevo ( profile ), 30 Dec, 2010 @ 09:12am

  Re: Its about the Benjamins

  The lawyer should have cared; a lawyer cannot just send out a letter because a client insists, there must be a basis in law or it's an ethical violation. The recipient may file a complaint with the bar association where Mr. Olsen practices.
  
  AJackson has apparently polled lawyers to know "[t]hat's what most lawyers do," otherwise the comment is one with no real basis in fact.
  
  There are a lot of idiots out there, and some of them are lawyers.

• On the post: Denver Post Column That Righthaven Is Suing Over May Have Given Implied Permission To Copy

  

  ElSteevo ( profile ), 16 Dec, 2010 @ 08:21am

  The law professor never said it was fair use, he said it "almost could be interpreted as implied permission." Does anyone really think that phrase 'could almost possibly be misinterpreted as the basis for, perhaps, a feasible, or even a viable, defense' to the legal action.
  
  Or is that just too tenuous?

• On the post: Denver Post Column That Righthaven Is Suing Over May Have Given Implied Permission To Copy

  

  ElSteevo ( profile ), 16 Dec, 2010 @ 05:53am

  After reading the Denver Post article, and Professor Johnson's article, this is my impression of the Johnson article (which you should read)
  
  Johnson says the Denver Post article, the one in a letter format from Mr. Rosen could "almost could be interpreted as implied permission." Reading the actual article, this is certainly a far stretch from what is written, and is more a tortured interpretation of the written word. Rosen expressing his support for a cause does not imply permission to take a protected work. The Denver Post article is simply and obviously, as even Professor Johnson mentioned in his article, a style choice for the work.
  
  Of course irony and humor seem to have demanded that Mr. Rosen dump on the very people for whom he espoused support in his letter; it appears Mr. Rosen's open support demands a sum certain.

• On the post: Cooks Source Editor Gives First Interview; Says She'll Probably Shut Down The Magazine

  

  ElSteevo ( profile ), 15 Nov, 2010 @ 09:07am

  Griggs, when confronted with a claim by the original author, was irresponsible when responding; she never checked her facts.
  
  What made it egregious was that she then lambasted the original author, because she was so certain of the facts she never bothered to check.
  
  What makes her a "not nice person" is that she didn't apologize once her mistake was pointed out.
  
  What makes her worthy of being the source of the term "Griggsed" is that she is only sorry she was caught.

• On the post: Officer Bubbles Sues To Find Out Identity Of Anonymous YouTubers

  

  ElSteevo ( profile ), 18 Oct, 2010 @ 09:40am

  Comment at your own risk

  You all realize that any comments made about the lawsuit or the YouTube comments will probably result in legal action against you.

• On the post: Court Says Personal Injury Plaintiff Has To Give Defendant Access To Facebook & Myspace Info

  

  ElSteevo ( profile ), 27 Sep, 2010 @ 07:21am

  Discovery

  It's pretty much normal discovery, Steelcase can go after information that may lead to something admissible at trial.

  That being said, the preferred method, if there is unrelated (i.e. financial data) information in the profile and other content, is an in camera review by the judge, where the judge looks at everything, then releases the relevant portions to the defendant.

• On the post: Apple Accused Of Demanding Newsday Drop Its iPad App Ad

  

  ElSteevo ( profile ), 20 Sep, 2010 @ 07:51am

  Re: That's funny

  Kaze said:

  "All in all, I think that the ad is quite amusing, and only an idiot would try to do what was portrayed"

  The ad is accurate, idiots do read Newsday.

• On the post: LA Times Barred From Publishing Photo Of Murder Suspect

  

  ElSteevo ( profile ), 12 Aug, 2010 @ 08:38am

  There is no potential bias, LA Times should just publish.

  The defense is complaining because the "alleged murder" is shown in that lovely orange jumpsuit, and that may bias some. Firstly, I agree wholeheartedly, the First Amendment trumps the appearance of a fair trial issue here. Secondly, who is the picture going to bias? Nobody! When the jury is selected the will know who the defendant is, and what he is accused of, it's not going to be a secret. If somebody already made up their mind on guilt or innocence, it was done when they heard the defendant was arrested; no one needs the orange jumpsuit to make up their mind.

• On the post: Judge Bars Reporter From Publishing Legally Obtained Factual Info, Saying She Doesn't Care If It Violates First Amendment

  

  ElSteevo ( profile ), 27 Jul, 2010 @ 08:20am

  Re: Its a temporary restraining order

  Liquid is correct; Time, place and manner restrictions can be made which do not violate the First Amendment.

• On the post: McDonald's Laughs Off Criticism Embedded In April Fool's Joke

  

  ElSteevo ( profile ), 21 Apr, 2010 @ 05:15am

  "We'll see how long it takes for tweets to decompose. "
  
  I don't know how long they take to decompose, but the only thing tweets are good for is compost.

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