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World Cup Courts in South Africa: Efficient But Costly

Determined not to have crime disrupt the World Cup, the South African Government established special courts fifty-six courts in the various cities hosting World Cup Games. The amount allocated to cover the costs of these courts is 45 million Rand, approximately 6 million U.S. dollars. The courts are reportedly efficiently dealing out justice.

To read more about the courts or listen to the NPR story about the courts click here.

Amazon Granted Continuation Patent on Social Networking System

There has been quite a buzz over the award of a Patent 7,739,139 to Amazon for a computer system that "provides various services for assisting users in locating, and establishing contact relationships with, other users." However, as explained in TechDirt's Amazon 'Friends' Patent Office: Gets Social Networking Patent, Amazon has been awarded only a continuation patent.

Hat tip to Law Librarian Blog

Sexual Orientation and the Law Display

By Presidential Proclamation, June 2010 has been designated Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month.

Visit a display of resources on sexual orientation and the law outside the reference offices. The display also includes information regarding OCU Law's Lesbian and Gay Law Student Association and information on Department of Defense review of and Congressional repeal of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy.

UPDATED: Canine DNA Database Breaks New Ground In Crackdown on Animal Cruelty

From an ASPCA Press Release: "NEW YORK--The nation's first criminal dog-fighting DNA database has been established by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), The Humane Society of Missouri (HSMO) and the Louisiana SPCA (LA/SPCA), and will be maintained at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) Veterinary Genetics Laboratory. Known as the Canine CODIS (Combined DNA Index System), the database is designed to help the criminal justice system investigate and prosecute dog fighting cases and address the growing problem of dog fighting using 21st century technology. "

Read more about Canine CODIS here.

*UPDATE* Please read the following article about the Canine CODIS database on CNN.

Photo Credit: Kim Nguyen

Google's Collection of Unsecured Wi-Fi Data Prompts Investigations

In May, the Energy and Commerce Committee of US House of Representative sent a letter to Google inquiring about the "huge amounts of data sent over private Wi-Fi networks while documenting the streets of our country for its Google Street View Product." The letter expressed specific concern that "Google did not disclose until long after the fact that consumers' Internet use was being recorded, analyzed and perhaps profiled." Google's response indicates that it "mistakenly" collected the data and that "the data has never been used in any Google product or service, nor do we intend to use it."

According to a Jurist Legal News & Research, Google data collection is also a subject of investigation in Australia and Canada; and several other nations have also become interested in data collected by Google.

Law and the World Cup

Soccer enthusiast from legal communities around the world are looking for connections between the law and the World Cup; several blogs are writing about the intersection of law and the World Cup. See the Where the Law and Soccer Collide: At a Firm in Manchester and World Cup Offers South African Lawyers Chance to Shine. Employment Law advice about employees watching the world cup at work is available here.

While some are looking for existing connections, others are simply making new connections of their own. See the World Cup Trivia on the International Law Prof Blog.