National Roundup

New York
Court again nixes Viacom $1B suit against YouTube
NEW YORK (AP) — For the second time in three years, a federal judge has dismissed Viacom’s $1 billion copyright lawsuit against YouTube, saying the online video site doesn’t have to police itself as long as it removes infringing videos when copyright owners give notice.
U.S. District Court Judge Louis Stanton in New York ruled Thursday that Viacom never proved YouTube was aware of thousands of videos Viacom said were stolen from its TV networks such as Comedy Central and BET.
Viacom Inc. said it will appeal.
“This ruling ignores the opinions of the higher courts and completely disregards the rights of creative artists,” the company said in a statement.
The ruling upholds Stanton’s original decision from June 2010 and leaves in place the current understanding of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. Stanton also ruled that YouTube did not act with “willful blindness” to the issue, noting that in 2007 it removed 100,000 videos in one day after being notified by Viacom they were infringing.
Last April, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals returned the case to the district court for re-evaluation, saying a jury might conclude YouTube was aware it was hosting pirated material.
Google Inc., which bought YouTube in 2006 when it was a year old, said the ruling marks an important day for the Internet.
“This is a win not just for YouTube, but for people everywhere who depend on the Internet to exchange ideas and information,” Google’s general counsel, Kent Walker, said in a statement.

California
Report: Lawsuit over Lap-Band ads is settled
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A company that promoted Lap-Band weight-loss surgery has agreed to pay $1.3 million to settle a false-advertising lawsuit, with some of the money going to billboards warning the public about the risks of weight-loss surgery, a newspaper reported Thursday.
From 2009 to 2011, five patients died after Lap-Band surgeries at clinics affiliated with the 1-800-GET-THIN ad campaign, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The proposed settlement still needs the approval of Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Kenneth Freeman, who asked attorneys at a hearing Thursday to provide more information and resubmit their settlement motion before he gives the deal his OK.
Relatives of two of the dead patients, Ana Renteria and Laura Faitro, filed the lawsuit as a class action in 2011.
The lawsuit sought damages from several companies and two brothers, Michael and Julian Omidi, who court documents said owned and managed Top Surgeons, a weight-loss business.
John Hueston, an attorney for the Omidis, said the settlement was not an admission of wrongdoing.
“Under the agreement, our clients ... are dismissed without any admission of liability, and made no contribution whatsoever to the settlements,” Hueston said in a statement cited by the Times.
A lawyer for the surgery centers, Konrad Trope, said the action against the facilities was dismissed without admission of liability or financial penalty.
The proposed settlement will be paid only by Top Surgeons, one of the companies behind the GET-THIN operation, the newspaper said. The company did not immediately return a message from The Associated Press.
The lawsuits and other public documents showed that 1-800-GET-THIN was a marketing company that steered patients to a network of outpatient clinics, where thousands of weight-loss surgeries were performed.
The company used dozens of billboards — along with ads on television, radio and the Internet — to promote Lap-Band weight-loss surgery.
Some of the suits alleged that the clinics put profits above patient safety, employing physicians who were unqualified and allowing surgeries to be performed in unsanitary conditions, the Times said.
The proposed deal calls for $100,000 to be spent on billboard advertising throughout Southern California “intended to explain the risks of weight-loss surgery.” The agreement does not specify the language to be used in the ads but says it must be approved by the court.

Oregon
Juror jailed for texting during robbery trial
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A judge in Oregon noticed an unexpected glow on a juror’s chest while the courtroom lights were dimmed during video evidence in an armed-robbery trial.
The juror, it seemed, was texting.
Marion County Circuit Judge Dennis Graves cleared the courtroom and excused all jurors except 26-year-old Benjamin Kohler.
According to a news release from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, Kohler had no explanation for his actions.
Jurors in Oregon are given explicit instructions at the outset of each trial not to use cellphones in court.
Graves held Kohler in contempt, and Kohler spent most of Tuesday and Wednesday in the county jail. He was released Wednesday night.
Neither the nature of the text message nor its recipient was disclosed.
Kohler did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment Thursday.
An alternate juror took his place. Sheriff’s spokesman Don Thomson said the trial ended Thursday with the defendant found guilty.

Pennsylvania
Judge turns back plea in principal’s child porn case
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A federal judge says a suburban Philadelphia principal should take more time to weigh his options before deciding whether he wants to plead guilty to possession of child pornography.
U.S. District Judge Legrome D. Davis has temporarily nixed former Springton Lake Middle School principal Troy Czukoski’s plan to plead guilty. The Delaware County Daily Times reports Davis says he heard hesitation in Czukoski’s voice in court Thursday and that he should take more time to consider his options.
No new hearing has been set.
Prosecutors announced charges against the 42-year-old last month; Rose Tree Media School District officials said he had resigned. Prosecutors say a search warrant found more than 150 images of children engaging in sex acts.
His lawyer says he’s an adult survivor of childhood sexual abuse.