In Brief: "WikiLeaks lawyer vows to prosecute Palin if she goes to Australia"

A lawyer associated with WikiLeaks has vowed that if Sarah Palin ever comes to Australia, he would begin a private prosecution against her for inciting violence against Julian Assange.

WikiLeaks lawyer vows to prosecute Palin if she goes to Australia: NPR « The Trial Warrior Blog

It's doomed to failure: the DPP can take over and discontinue any private prosecution. But it's still pretty hilarious.

Also, I didn't know private prosecutions were possible in Australia --- you learn something every day.

In Brief: Unauthorised use of your own computer = cracking?

Seems there must be something in the water with regards to crazy applications of anti-cracking law.

I was somewhat amazed to find lawyers for Sony arguing that (in the US at least) it is cracking to use your own computer in a way other than authorised. (Post on The Volokh Conspiracy, hat tip to Overlawyered)

Sure, it rightfully wins the "Silliest Theory of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act" award, but it highlights again the dangers of over-broad computer crime law.

In Brief: Reporting Human Rights, or something...

Philip Lawrence is a convicted murderer who lives in the UK. The government attempted to deport him to his native Italy; a move which was blocked by a British court.

The Telegraph newspaper argued that this was indicative of problems in UK Human Rights law. However, the UK Human Rights Blog argues that the case was considerably more complicated than the Telegraph suggested, and "human rights" was not the central issue of the case.

Australian media is blighted by the same disease --- simplistic or just plain wrong reporting of legal issues.

(The blog also has other examples of incorrect reporting in the UK, if you care to browse.)