CRACK…
By striking my bone gavel, I call this special Blawg Review meeting of the Skull and Bones Society to order. Ever since the passing of Demosthenes in the year 322, and since the founding of our Society here at Yale in 1832, we honor eloquence. So, today, it is altogether fitting and proper that we discuss the best posts in the legal blawgosphere from this past week.
Our friends in the Illuminati assure us that their orbital mind control lasers will wipe out any sites that aren’t “tapped out” by our Society.
What, you don’t have the WiFi password to get online here in the Tomb to view these sites? The access point you want is “322”, password GERONIMOS_SKULL.
Yes, Bonesmen, we do have many US Presidents among our alumni, plus plenty of cabinet members. It’s all described in our brochure. But don’t count on us picking favorites if two of you face off again. What a mess that was, making us choose between Brother Bush and Brother Kerry! We ended up flipping a coin when we instructed our operatives in Ohio which way the election should turn out. Don’t tell Brother Bush, he still thinks he won because his dad is a member too. Oh, and he still owes us for the whole Bush v. Gore debacle in the Supreme Court, too.
We’re not the only secret society around – we are aware of some in Charlottesville, Virginia. These, though, pale by comparison to our Bonesmen’s worldwide reach.
Before we start, kudos to Brother Gulbransen for a great job with last week’s Review. Our plans for world domination through controlling the financial markets with Facebook’s IPO are proceeding nicely.
Speaking of Facebook, Brother O’Keefe discusses Facebook’s use by lawyers, and why it will continue to be used to build relationships. Those who do, though, are opting into the use of their data by a huge company – which is why it factors highly into our New World Order!
Next up is Brother Brown with his post on a voyeuristic lawyer who took upskirt photos of his female staff with various iPhones and iPads. Take note, Bonesmen, don’t assert a CFAA claim when the staff delete the photos, that’s just bad form. Ask Brother Magog for help instead…
Brothers Coleman, Pelton, Welch and Schwimmer recently hosted “Meet the Bloggers VIII” at INTA in Washington D.C. Good job holding it underground in a windowless room, we like those. Thankfully nobody posted a photo that showed our secret handshake!
We may have to take action against Brother Pelton for warning people about one of our latest money making activities, the “International Catalogue of Trademarks.” We pride ourselves on providing zero value while funding our other plans. Our New World Order doesn’t come cheap, you know.
This week, Brother Coleman dug into the recording of the Rosetta Stone v. Google discussion at INTA to determine what really happened when Google’s Google Senior Trademark Counsel Annabelle DanielVarda spoke at the mic during the Q&A. We will not confirm or deny whether Skull & Bones kept her off the panel itself…
Brother Schwimmer’s Trademark Blog has been around for ten years. Big deal, we’ve been around since 1832!
We see that Brother Welch has updated his Fraud-O-Meter to v.2.0, but it’s in beta. So is our iPhone app that taps into Google’s live search queries!
By the way, we’ll be retaking our group photo for this year’s class of Bonesmen soon. Whoever changed the time on the grandfather clock from 8:00 to 4:20 will be punished.
A warm welcome to our brother Bonesmen involved with the NATO summit in Chicago. Way to spread the New World Order!
I see that Brother Malek has posted on IP Watchdog about the perils of being your own trademark attorney. Good advice, even if it adds more money to our coffers!
Brother Calloway reminds us, as lawyers, to have a life. We concur.
Brother Greenfield wrote several good posts this week at Simple Justice worthy of our attention, but in particular we liked his comments on integrity in social media. We also prefer blue pinstriped suits over pink hotpants as well.
Brother Greenfield also touched a chord with his post on the bravery of Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Gustin Reichbach, who acknowledged that he is using marijuana for medicinal purposes in violation of New York law. We admire such bravery in our public servants.
Our Sister Carter is speaking at Phoenix Comicon about the intersection of fan fiction and copyright law. It’s been years since I wrote about that topic myself. As you know, we encourage fan fiction because it helps support the revenue stream for our private island getaway. That, and Brother Remus takes a special interest in Cybermen/Dalek slash fiction for some reason…
Special kudos to Sister Granick (with comments from Brother Goldman) for discussing CISPA’s deficiencies. Too bad our Society’s support of SOPA wasn’t enough to get that enacted.
Brother Thierer’s take on what may replace advertising to support culture got us thinking. We are certain, though, that we will find a way to subvert whatever comes next…
We liked Brother Balasubramani’s post on whether someone can be defamed in one Twitter posting. We will now endeavor to try!
Brother Ezor’s discussion of the judicial misunderstanding of technology in the People v. Kent child pornography case was spot on. We may subvert many things, but even we draw the line there.
Be sure to check out Sister Pynchon’s explanation of how young women lawyers can succeed in big law firms.
Brother Guadmuz (the Technollama) asks whether jailed convicts should have access to social media.
Sister Cannavina lists six ways to protect your identity online – as if that will protect you from us!
Blue hats are not part of our dress code, Sister Monahan, but we do know all about Klout.
Sister Gellis discusses regulating privacy and technology at her Digital Defense blog. She discusses privacy from government and privacy from individuals, but forgets about privacy from secret societies like ours!
For you Bonesmen working in the legal field, Brother Hull discusses why you tell the client rep not to bring her notes to her deposition. A sneaky tactic that is well within the rules, but worthy of note by us!
Brother Granat’s discussion of Legalzoom and its impact on the legal industry is also worthy of note. We’re all in favor of disruption!
We liked Brother Baron’s discussion of the science of persuasion. He reminds us that “Knowledge is power, and knowledge of the details of people’s lives gives power over them.” We’re all in favor of that kind of power!
We’ve been monitoring a multi-blog discussion of the issue of whether lawyers could be replaced by computers. Sister Black’s post, as well as Brother Brown’s and Brother Lambert’s posts are all well worth reading. We believe the Borg and Mentats are in the legal profession’s future – the question is how soon? We will let you know when we’re ready…
As a secret society, the principle of open justice is foreign to us. Still, we applaud Brother O’Dell’s post about open justice in the Irish courts.
We close this Review by reminding ourselves why we honor eloquence. Demosthenes was referred to by Cicero as the “perfect orator who lacked nothing.” We hope these posts will be received equally well. Bonesmen, you will next hear from us when the time is right. When we’re ready for the New World Order, you will know.
Yours in 322,
Brother Thompson
Blawg Review has information about next week’s host, and instructions how to get your blawg posts reviewed in upcoming issues.
Thanks Brother Thompson for the shout out and for such an entertaining and well illustrated blawg review. These are not easy to get right, having served my term at this form. Bravos in order and duly given before the gavel comes down.