var googletag = googletag || {}; googletag.cmd = googletag.cmd || []; googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.pubads().disableInitialLoad(); });
device = device.default;
//this function refreshes [adhesion] ad slot every 60 second and makes prebid bid on it every 60 seconds // Set timer to refresh slot every 60 seconds function setIntervalMobile() { if (!device.mobile()) return if (adhesion) setInterval(function(){ googletag.pubads().refresh([adhesion]); }, 60000); } if(device.desktop()) { googletag.cmd.push(function() { leaderboard_top = googletag.defineSlot('/22018898626/LC_Article_detail_page', [728, 90], 'div-gpt-ad-1591620860846-0').setTargeting('pos', ['1']).setTargeting('div_id', ['leaderboard_top']).addService(googletag.pubads()); googletag.pubads().collapseEmptyDivs(); googletag.enableServices(); }); } else if(device.tablet()) { googletag.cmd.push(function() { leaderboard_top = googletag.defineSlot('/22018898626/LC_Article_detail_page', [320, 50], 'div-gpt-ad-1591620860846-0').setTargeting('pos', ['1']).setTargeting('div_id', ['leaderboard_top']).addService(googletag.pubads()); googletag.pubads().collapseEmptyDivs(); googletag.enableServices(); }); } else if(device.mobile()) { googletag.cmd.push(function() { leaderboard_top = googletag.defineSlot('/22018898626/LC_Article_detail_page', [320, 50], 'div-gpt-ad-1591620860846-0').setTargeting('pos', ['1']).setTargeting('div_id', ['leaderboard_top']).addService(googletag.pubads()); googletag.pubads().collapseEmptyDivs(); googletag.enableServices(); }); } googletag.cmd.push(function() { // Enable lazy loading with... googletag.pubads().enableLazyLoad({ // Fetch slots within 5 viewports. // fetchMarginPercent: 500, fetchMarginPercent: 100, // Render slots within 2 viewports. // renderMarginPercent: 200, renderMarginPercent: 100, // Double the above values on mobile, where viewports are smaller // and users tend to scroll faster. mobileScaling: 2.0 }); });
Download App | FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
 Upload Your Resume   Employers / Post Jobs 

September 2 2006 Legal Blog Roundup

  1. Legal Jobs
  2. Legal Articles
  3. Legal News
  4. Legal Daily News Feature
  5. Legal Daily News
  6. September 2 2006 Legal Blog Roundup

published September 04, 2006

Published By
( 5 votes, average: 4.3 out of 5)
What do you think about this article? Rate it using the stars above and let us know what you think in the comments below.
You got it. One of the big linked-to posts this week was from Thomas Nephew's news/opinion site Newsrack Blog []. The article in question was titled "'Their voice. Amplified.' or Why I'm banning 151.200.70," and concerned a comment made on the blog which Nephew found suspicious, somehow, and eventually traced back to a company which bases its business on astroturf. In the figurative sense.

Now, anyone who works in the corporate world or even has a vague idea how the corporate world works is aware that this kind of thing is par for the course. You weren't expecting ad campaigns to be honest, were you? Manipulation-wise, the world of politics is several light-years behind the fashion industry. But the blogosphere, as a young and, yes, grassroots industry, has a way of regarding itself as somehow apart from all that, and advertisers and lobbyists stepping in on their turf (I need some new analogies) makes bloggers very, very cross. As witness: Making Light, Cybersoc.com, Deconsumption, Blanton's and Ashton's, Sivacracy, Watch Me Sleep, Pandagon, Deconsumption again [], Dr. Peter Rost, and Making Light again. Among many, many others.

You'll notice that the smaller blogs seem to have cottoned on first, and the larger ones picked the story up from there; that's unsurprising as, the less traffic you have on your blog, the more likely you are examine your commentators closely. The bigger blogs have had the intervening time to track down the sources of a lot of the astroturf - two companies called NetVocates and The Rendon Group.

You'll also have noticed that a lot of the blogs listed lean towards the left, so The Rendon Group's partial clients list for, say, the Middle East is not met with hugs and puppies. The word "scary" appears with considerable frequency, as does some version of "there oughta be a law."

But then, isn't the most cherished principle of the blogosphere that it's, for the most part, a self-policed community? If there were a law, wouldn't that be infringing on free speech (on top of being well-nigh unenforceable)? Meanwhile, Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times takes a moment to snark about the value of the work done these days by both bloggers and traditional media.

On a lighter note, legal bloggers have been having fun over the last week with Ken Starr's latest Supreme Court appeal. Who can blame them, when they've got the phrase "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" to work with? It seems that a high schooler in Juneau, Alaska was suspended in 2002 for putting out a banner with those words at an Olympic torch relay off-campus. In March, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that this was a violation of free speech; as the case waits to be heard or passed over, Gawker observes, "We love: That Kenneth Starr took the case pro bono. We love: That the Supreme Court, whether they decide to hear the case or not, will have to read the words 'Bong Hits 4 Jesus.'"

It only gets better when Decision of the Day connects the case with a Second Circuit case, Guiles v. Marineau, involving a student's an anti-Bush t-shirt which showed the President using illegal drugs. The Circuit Court ruled overruled a former district court's decision, saying that the message was essentially political, not drug-related, and should therefore be considered as free speech. Bob Loblaw's catch phrase: "Bong Hits 4 Bush."

That's the news for this week. Join me next week for more unfocused ramblings about ultimately unverifiable information. Hey, the story has to reflect the source, doesn't it?
  1. Legal Jobs
  2. Legal Articles
  3. Legal News
  4. Legal Daily News Feature
  5. Legal Daily News
  6. September 2 2006 Legal Blog Roundup

published September 04, 2006

( 5 votes, average: 4.3 out of 5)
What do you think about this article? Rate it using the stars above and let us know what you think in the comments below.

Related

Only LawCrossing consolidates every job it can find in the legal industry and puts all of the job listings it locates in one place.

Popular Questions

Do you want a better legal career?

Hi, I'm Harrison Barnes. I'm serious about improving Lawyers' legal careers. My only question is, will it be yours?
  1. Legal News
  2. Legal Daily News Feature
  3. Legal Daily News