Justia Communications Law Opinion Summaries

Articles Posted in U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
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A jury concluded that defendant violated the Store Communications Act (SCA), 18 U.S.C. 2701-2712, when, in accordance with her lawyer’s advice, she viewed her ex-husband's (plaintiff) emails in an effort to prove to the divorce court that plaintiff was lying about and hiding assets. The jury did not award damages to plaintiff. Plaintiff appealed to the district court and the district court awarded a more modest amount than the requested $450,000 and refused to award attorney's fees. Plaintiff appealed. The court concluded that it has no authority to award actual or punitive damages when the jury has rejected the entry of such an award. Further, under the SCA, the court does not have the authority to award statutory damages in the absence of actual damages. Accordingly, the court affirmed the district court's determination not to award punitive damages; vacated the award of statutory damages in the absence of actual damages; and affirmed the denial of attorney's fees. View "Vista Marketing, LLC v. Burkett" on Justia Law

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Key TV, a local over-the-air broadcaster, filed suit against Comcast, owner and operator of a cable television system serving the same area, alleging that it was unlawfully overcharged for the right to broadcast its content over Comcast's cable system and that Comcast illegally discriminated against it by not carrying the station in high definition or including it on Comcast's "hospitality tier." Key TV also filed two state law claims. The district court stayed the entire case under the primary jurisdiction doctrine pending resolution of Key TV's federal law claims by the FCC. The court concluded that it lacked appellate jurisdiction to entertain this interlocutory appeal where this stay does not end the litigation on the merits and it does not leave the district court without anything to do but execute the judgment. The court further concluded that the collateral order doctrine does not apply to save appellate jurisdiction. Accordingly, the court dismissed the appeal. View "Beach TV Cable Co. v. Comcast of Florida/Georgia, LLC" on Justia Law