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Cathryn Elaine Harris, of Dallas County, Texas, claims that Beacon, which Facebook launched in November, got the information from Blockbuster through computer tracking programs without her permission.

In her complaint, filed April 9 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Harris claims that by allowing Facebook to get at information on her movie renting and buying habits Blockbuster violated the Video Privacy Protection Act.

Randy Hargrove, a spokesman for Dallas-based Blockbuster, said the company denies the allegations.

“Our alliance with Facebook included numerous levels of privacy protection built in for our online subscribers,” Hargrove said.

Beacon, which members could always opt out of, tracks purchases Facebook members make online and sends members’ “friends” alerts about the transactions. Within a few weeks of its launch, thousands of complaints poured in from Facebook users who hadn’t realized it would share their commercial activity. Now users must opt into the program if they want it.

But Harris’ lawsuit, which she hopes the court will certify as a class action, claims the damage is already done and that Blockbuster continues to share her information.

“To this day, however, Facebook still receives personal identifiable information from participating Web sites … whether the Facebook member has chosen to distribute their information or not,” the complaint says. “To this day, Blockbuster Online members remain unsuspecting victims.”

It was not clear from the complaint whether Harris is claiming that Blockbuster is sharing new information.

Palo Alto, Calif.-based Facebook did not immediately respond to a call requesting comment.

Harris’ lawyers at The Corea Firm and Otstott and Jamison in Dallas could not immediately be reached Thursday evening.

Congress passed the Video Privacy Protection Act in 1988 in response to the experience of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork, whose video rental history was obtained by a newspaper.

http://www.lexisone.com/news/ap/ap041808e.html

The survey asked attorneys about compensation, promotions, the complexity and importance of work assignments and client contact opportunities based on diversity.

Based on the results of the survey, CABA was to recognize Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod among firms with 50 of more attorneys and Kenny Nachwalter among firms with 20 to 49 attorneys at a reception this past Thursday night.

The goal of the survey was to identify which firms have greater success in making diversity a priority, said Coral Gables, Fla., attorney Nelson Bellido. He is chair of CABA’s diversity committee and a partner with Concepcion, Sexton & Martinez.

“This is going to allow the firms to identify and prioritize certain diversity goals,” he said. “What CABA is doing is [asking law firms], ‘Are you walking the walk, or are you just talking?’”

Respondents overall were highly positive about diversity prospects and achievements at their firms. Attorneys who expressed no opinion generally outscored attorneys expressing negative sentiments about their firms.

Overall, attorneys at large firms appeared to be more satisfied than attorneys at smaller firms with the state of diversity at their firms.

A bigger percentage of attorneys from large firms, 17 percent, felt they were treated differently because of race, gender or sexual orientation than the 12 percent at medium-size firms.

When it came to the issue of pay equity, lawyers from larger firms seemed more satisfied with minority lawyer compensation than those at smaller firms. About 67 percent of large firm lawyers agreed that minority lawyers were as likely to receive raises as nonminority lawyers compared with 63 percent at smaller firms.

The question generating some of the highest negatives in the survey asked if minority and nonminority attorneys have an equal chance at leadership roles. About 11 percent of respondents at large firms and 10 percent at smaller firms did not see a level playing field.

http://dailybarnews.com/entry/Large-Law-Firms-Treat-Minority-Attorneys-Better-1

The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 vote, said Boyd County High School student Timothy Morrison failed to show that he was harmed by the policy that was later changed. Judge Deborah L. Cook, joined by Judge John R. Adams, also said Morrison didn’t show how winning a lawsuit seeking only $1 in damages would rectify his situation. Judge Karen Nelson Moore dissented.

“This case should be over,” Cook wrote. “Allowing it to proceed to determine the constitutionality of an abandoned policy — in the hope of awarding the plaintiff a single dollar — vindicates no interest and trivializes the important business of the federal courts.”

The ruling is a reversal of a previous ruling that held Morrison should be allowed to pursue the lawsuit.

Morrison, a senior at Boyd County High School, sued the Boyd County school district over a policy that required students to undergo anti-harassment training. He claimed the policy threatened him with punishment for expressing religious beliefs in opposition to homosexuality. Morrison is a professed Christian who believes his religion requires him to speak out against what he sees as behavior that doesn’t comport with his understanding of Christian morality.

Morrison was never punished under the policy, which was later changed to exempt speech that would normally be protected off campus.

The school district adopted the policy and established the anti-harassment training as part of a 2004 legal settlement that ended a lawsuit between the school district and a now-defunct gay-rights group that wanted recognition as an extracurricular group.

Members of the Boyd County High School Gay Straight Alliance argued that the school district violated their constitutional rights by refusing to allow them to meet on campus.

Joel Oster, an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian law group that represents Morrison, didn’t immediately return a telephone message left at his Scottsdale, Ariz., office. Winter Huff, an attorney representing the school district, didn’t immediately return a call to her Somerset office.

Sharon McGowan, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, which supported the Alliance Defense Fund in arguing that Morrison should be permitted to pursue his case, said the ACLU was disappointed by the decision.

http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/entry/Court-Tosses-Suit-Over-School-Speech