Why did Yahoo erase photos of Ray Artiano, whose law firm sued me for defamation?

See all posts about Yahoo and free speech.

UPDATE 11:25 a.m. November 29, 2011:

My erased and frozen web pages are back this morning. I wonder how long it will be before Stutz law firm gets Yahoo to erase them again. I'm getting a bit tired of this game. Why is Yahoo afraid of Stutz? Or who is it in Yahoo's legal department that does favors for Stutz?

Cecilia Yoshida
Sr. Legal Administrative Assistant at Yahoo!, Inc.
Company Address:
701 1st Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94089

Dear Cecilia:

It is clear that Yahoo's legal department has gone far beyond its stated standards to censor my website.

Ray Artiano's law firm sued me for defamation. The fact is that everything I said on my website was true. Still, Mr. Artiano's firm, representing itself in court, managed somehow to get a San Diego Superior Court judge to issue an injunction that said I couldn't mention Mr. Artiano's name! This ruling was unconstitutional, and every lawyer in Yahoo's legal department knew it. Yet Yahoo's legal department temporarily shut down my website at the request of Stutz Artiano Shinoff & Holtz. Why? As a favor to fellow lawyers?

That’s pretty unethical behavior for Yahoo, but it gets worse. Recently, even after the Court of Appeal threw out the illegal injunction, Yahoo again violated its own terms and conditions by doing favors for Ray Artiano.

Case in point: Yahoo has erased photos I took of Ray Artiano during his deposition. Does Yahoo not understand the concept of an issue of public interest? Ray Artiano sued me; he is the one who made his actions a public issue. A lawsuit is a public matter. The taxpayers pay for the judge, the bailiff, the court reporter, the clerks, and the courthouse. The justice system exists by and for the people.

What possible reason could Yahoo have for erasing these photos, which belong to me, from my website? It can only be a personal favor by Yahoo’s lawyers.

Sincerely,
Maura Larkins


HERE'S ANOTHER CASE INVOLVING YAHOO AND THE CONSTITUTION:
http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/california/candce/3:2010cv05897/235632/1/1.pdf
NOTICE OF REMOVAL with COMPLAINT filed by Yahoo! Inc.. Consent ...

Cecilia Yoshida, Legal Ops Manager. Yahoo ! Inc . 701 First Avenue ... information of users of Yahoo! products and services (hereinafter "Yahoo! User"). ...