Court Says Parents Can Block ‘Sexting’ Cases

In the first federal appeals court opinion dealing with “sexting” — the transmission of sexually explicit photographs by cellphone — a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled Wednesday that parents could block the prosecution of their children on child pornography charges for appearing in photographs found on some classmates’ cellphones.

“It does not resolve all of the constitutional issues implicated in sexting prosecutions, but it’s a terrific start for civil liberties,” said Witold Walczak, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, who represented the parents.

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Dubai sentences Indian couple to 3 months in jail for Sexting

Judges ruled that they had planned to "commit sin", a reference to an extramarital affair - which is illegal in the United Arab Emirates.

The unnamed pair, aged 47 and 42, were working as cabin crew for Dubai's Emirates airline.

Their "sexy texts" first surfaced last year, in a divorce lawsuit by the woman's estranged husband.

The Indian pair were originally sentenced to six months in jail, followed by deportation. But an appeals court reduced the term and gave them the option to remain in the country.

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Mobile application sales to reach '$17.5bn by 2012'

[via the BBC]

Scary Stephen King text message worth $175 in class action settlement

Some 60,000 cell-phone users who had signed up to receive “promotional messages” from Nextones.com in order to get a free ringtone got just such a text message on January 18, 2006 advertising a cell-phone-related Stephen King book.

This resulted in a class action that was thrown out on the grounds that plaintiffs had agreed to “terms and conditions” permitting such cell-phone advertising; moreover, the federal law prohibiting the use of an automatic telephone dialing system applied only to systems that dialed numbers randomly or sequentially, and the defendants were operating off of a list of opt-in telephone numbers.

Previously:

-- Stephen King Tries To Ring Up Book Sales

-- Woman bids $ 25'000 to name King character "CELL"

Could Hearst iPhone Apps Bring Backlash?

Hearst Corp. plans to churn out thousands of iPhone applications focused on niche topics within categories such as celebrities, food, hobbies, and sports. Mediapost reports.

Hearst's LMK ("let me know") applications unit has already released some 70 titles in the App Store priced mostly at $1.99 and including apps tailored to fans of Angelina Jolie, the Boston Red Sox and Green Day. Sound like an expensive proposition? Hearst told The Wall Street Journal it can turn out the apps at low cost by using a similar template for each and linking to information from outside sources.

The publisher is paying for rights to photos but not other content pulled from traditional news outlets and blogs.

If the LMK apps proliferate as planned and end up selling in measurable amounts, then it raises a question about whether content owners whose material is used in the apps will take issue with the apps or seek a piece of the App Store action. News publishers like the AP to News Corp. have long complained about sites like Google News and The Huffington Post hijacking their content.

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