Big tech firms could lose key defence; BCLP wins doping appeal; lawyer tries to silence Weinstein
Big tech firms could lose legal shield for undesirable content
The US Department of Justice is weighing whether it’s time that the law caught up with technology by reviewing a legal shield used by large tech firms.
The Communications Decency Act includes an immunity from lawsuits involving third-party content on their sites. If Section 230 were to be removed, it would mean sites including Facebook and Google being liable for content posted on their sites, a significant threat to their business model.
“After 25 years it seems that the time has come for Congress to assess what changes to Section 230 are now needed,” said DOJ official Jeffrey Rosen.
He added that ideally, the benefits of the legal shield would be maintained while addressing growing concerns about some of the content that is posted online.
BCLP successful in major sports doping appeal
The integrity of drug testing in world sport has been upheld by a ruling won by a team from Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) heard an appeal from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) against a ruling by swimming’s governing body FINA.
FINA had cleared Chinese swimmer Sun Yang of wrongdoing in an out-of-competition drug test in September 2018 in which Sun questioned the credentials of testers and smashed vials containing his blood samples.
The 3-time Olympic gold medallist and 11-time world champion was cleared by FINA but the BCLP sport and entertainment group lawyers’ were accepted by CAS at a live-streamed hearing watched by 2.5 million.
He will now not be able to defend his title at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
The BCLP team was led by Colorado Springs Partners Rich Young and Brent Rychener, with support from Suzanne Crespo and Rob Bower.
Lawyer tries to silence Weinstein during bizarre courtroom rant
A lawyer acting for convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein tried to cut short a rant from his client in the courtroom.
Bloomberg reports that Arthur Aidala, managing partner of New York firm Aidala Bertuna & Kamins, stepped in when the disgraced movie producer ranted at the judge that he was as martyr for many other accused men.
Aidala was unsuccessful in silencing his client who continued the outburst following a short discussion. Weinstein was jailed for 23 years and his accusers looked on in disbelief as he said his treatment was essentially McCarthyism.
