Gawker Settlement Approved in BR

This week, Gawker Media won court approval to repay creditors and settle the $140 million legal judgment awarded to former wrestler Hulk Hogan that drove the online publisher into Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stuart Bernstein of New York signed off on Gawker’s reorg plan. The settlement pays Hogan $31 million to resolve privacy litigation over Gawker’s publication of a highly publicized sex video. Approval of the plan ends a four-year legal fight between Gawker and Hogan in a case tried before a Florida jury earlier this year. Liability for the resulting verdict in Hogan's favor and Gawker’s failure to stay the judgment for purposes of appeal forced the bankruptcy. Reportedly, lawyers involved in the settlement say this brings the case to a close and extinguishes any possibility of appeal. Gawker sold most of its blogs, excluding its namesake site, to Univision for $135 million. Gawker’s Chapter 11 plan splits the company’s assets and sale proceeds among its creditors. The plan also includes settlements of other defamation lawsuits. Gawker maintained its stories subject to lawsuits were true, arguing First Amendment protection, but the expense of continuing to defend litigation would have been too much. Judge Bernstein said each of the settlements was reasonable for Gawker in light of the circumstances. The deal also shields former writers and editors from future lawsuits. In exchange for receiving that protection, the writers agreed to relinquish their rights to indemnification. The Wall Street Journal writes that the releases raised a novel issue on the intersection of bankruptcy law and the First Amendment and elicited a legal brief from a collection of journalism organizations in support of the legal protections. See more here-- http://on.wsj.com/2hjh0Bt

Do Not Track Mediator Appointed

In an international effort to give consumers control over collection of their online data, law professor Peter Swire was named mediator by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The international group is developing standards that allow Internet users to keep their online activities private from advertisers. Coming up with a global standard for “Do Not Track,” a computer browser setting permitting users to signal they don't want their browsing activities tracked for marketing purposes, is proving tough amidst a fight between industry execs and privacy advocates. Parties on both sides welcomed the move, but remain doubtful Swire could bring opponents to agreement, especially at a time when some are questioning whether the W3C is the appropriate forum. It is reported that Swire, former chief counselor for privacy at the Office of Management and Budget, hopes to strike a balance palatable to both sides and views the effort as creating the digital equivalent of the Do Not Call list. Even as negotiations continue, newer versions of browsers such as Internet Explorer and Chrome already provide Do Not Track settings for their users. However, in the absence of accepted global standards, ad networks and data brokers are not yet honoring the browser tracking flags. See story at http://nyti.ms/Sw2VMs