precedent

(Newser) - The latest conundrum in child pornography law is restitution, as courts try to nail down whether simply possessing offending images constitutes harm to the victim—and how much that damage is worth. A year ago, a man in possession of 10-year-old pictures of “Amy” was ordered to pay her...

(Newser) - A Chinese court has convicted 11 people of violating copyright laws and sentenced them to as much as 6 1/2  years of prison for working with a counterfeiting ring that sold fake Microsoft products around the world. Microsoft hailed the crackdown on the pirates, whose organization may have made $2...

(Newser) - Once considered an intellectually trivial, one-off ruling, Bush v. Gore is gaining ground as legal precedent, the New York Times reports. The 2000 Supreme Court decision has been cited some 20 times in the Minnesota Al Franken/Norm Coleman recount case, and influenced a recent Ohio ruling on voting machines. Its...

(Newser) - A criminal indictment over MySpace bullying that led to a Missouri teen's suicide sets an unusual and perhaps dangerous legal precedent, experts say. Because her activities violated the site’s terms of use, Lori Drew faces charges of computer fraud and abuse related to the death of Megan Meier, Wired...