Some interesting legal tidbits for the day:
» The sharing of data through referral URLs — where companies pass on more about the user than just the URL that he or she last came from, like the specific terms he or she was searching on or even the user’s name — is practically as old as the web itself. But three separate lawsuits in the past month — against Facebook, Zynga, and Google (NSDQ: GOOG) — are challenging that practice, saying it violates users’ privacy. [MediaPost]
» Music storage service MP3tunes.com has filed a motion to end the lawsuit brought against it three years ago by EMI. The lawsuit is being closely watched, as companies like Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) and Google are getting into the music-storage space. This isn’t the first time in court for MP3tunes.com CEO Michael Robertson, who also founded MP3.com-a company that was sued out of existence by the recording industry back in 2003. [CNET]
» File-sharer Jammie Thomas is back in court this week-for the third time. Thomas, who was the first defendant to take an RIAA file-sharing lawsuit to a jury, has already been found liable for copyright infringement twice, and the third trial will be focused only on damages. Her second trial ended with her being found liable for $1.92 million, but a judge called that verdict “monstrous and shocking” before lowering the damage award to $54,000. [Ars Technica]
» Judges and lawyers have expressed growing concern about the possibility of jurors using social media during trials. Now Florida has written up new instructions that officially bar jurors from blogging or tweeting during trials. [CNET]

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