LegalFish: The Daily Tackle

Freedom of Speech and Twitter – Where Do We Draw the Line?

Courtney Love has made history.  

But, given her reputation – probably not in a good way, eh?  

Back in March 2009, Courtney Love was sued for defamation by fashion designer Dawn Simorangkir for comments Love made to Simorangkir on Twitter.  One of the alleged tweets was “Oi vey don’t (expletive) with my wardrobe or you will end up in a circle of scorched earth hunted ‘til your dead.”  So, yes, although this comment is pretty harsh, isn’t Love entitled to freedom of speech?

Galleon Group Arrest: Insider Trading or Aggressive Research?

With the crumble, and hopefully resurrection soon, of the financial markets, my blood can't help but boil and my head can't help but spin when I hear of another potential financial injustice. This week's Odd File case will return tomorrow; meanwhile, check this out. 

Here’s the scenario:

Billionaire founder of the Galleon Group Raj Rajaratnam was charged last week by federal prosecutors for utilizing insider trading schemes to net Galleon more than $20 million worth in illegal profits. Danielle Chiesi from New Castle Funds was also charged with supplying Rajaratnam and New Castle with insider information. However, reports are surfacing that if Rajaratnam was using insider information to drive which shares Galleon would purchase for profits, then Rajaratnam was a lousy at insider trading. According to the criminal complaint, Chiesi coaxed Rajaratnam to purchase 16 million shares and New Castle to purchase 2.5 million shares of A.M.D., a computer chip maker. Galleon spent $85 million to $90 million on the 16 million share purchase, but, when the global financial markets began to fall, so did A.M.D.’s shares. The shares that Galleon purchased were then only worth $68 million, and the group suffered a near 30% loss. 

The Odd File: French Upset about Subway Restaurant Ad

Here’s the scenario:

Back in 2005, a French man living in Massachusetts wrote in complaining about Subway Restaurant’s advertisement of their new chicken cordon bleu sandwich.  A poster in a Subway Restaurant window read “Chicken and France… Somehow it just goes together.” The poster also featured a chicken dressed in what appeared to be a French military uniform. He found the poster to be disturbing because to him it was clearly racist, inflammatory, and insensitive. The man said, “They’re looking to sell a few sandwiches on the basis of the current anti-French sentiment?” He acknowledged that there are a lot of French people in the United States and that Subway Restaurant, as an international franchise, has shops in France and Quebec, so he had a hard time imagining this poster in restaurant windows there. He asked: “Are they violating any laws?”