Paul Boutin on Typo Traffic
Paul Boutin discusses the problem of searchers making typos when typing domain names into the address bar. He runs through the typical litany of gripes about product efforts to solve this problem—Microsoft’s “blatant ploy” to promote MSN search when IE…
Termination of Accounts in Virtual Worlds
I attended Santa Clara’s Rules & Borders conference on Friday, and the subject of virtual worlds came up extensively. One issue in particular is continuing to vex me. Some virtual world participants invest significant time and money in their online…
Avoiding Attention Distractions
Katie Hafner writes a good article on the difficulties we have avoiding distractions when we use our computer. It’s so true! There are so many temptations and messages competing for our attention. I know I struggle with this—there’s always something…
Randall Stross Whines About Spam
Randall Stross writes an article whining about spam as pollution and complaining that the recipient pays for spam. Haven’t we heard this argument before? As a matter of fact, we have. Often. A long time ago (his own article cites…
Ben Edelman’s Response to My Post on Utah’s Spyware Law
I got an email from Ben Edelman in response to my earlier posting on Utah’s anti-spyware law. If you don’t know Ben, you should. Ben has done some first-rate empirical research on the Internet, and I cited several of his…
Is TRUSTe Irrelevant?
TRUSTe pulled its logo from some websites for breaking its rules for the first time in 2 years. The article focuses on TRUSTe’s refusal to specify the rules violation, but this seems to miss the point, and widely. In 1999…
More on Utah Spyware Law Amendments
I finally had a chance to look at the proposed amendments to the Utah Spyware Control Act. They are much worse than I imagined! The law talks about spyware but instead makes adware illegal in Utah–regardless of how the software…
Pornmeister Liable for Affiliate’s Spam
A settlement involving Sobonito Investments, a Cyprus pornmeister that used an affiliate marketing scheme to generate traffic. The affiliates engaged in bad email practices, and the advertiser was put on the hook. This situation is clearly covered by CAN-SPAM but…
French Lawsuit Involving “Search Engine Optimization” Techniques
I haven’t seen much discussion on the recent French opinion Societe Kaligona v. Societe Dreamnex, French Court of Appeals, Jan. 12, 2005. (I’m working from a BNA report—subscription required). The case involves two competing Internet sex shops. Dreamnex’s site saw…
Coca-Cola v. Purdy Permanent Injunction
The court issued a permanent injunction in the long-running Coca-Cola v. Purdy case. If you’re not familiar with Purdy, he is an anti-abortion activist. He targeted various publishers that he believed were pro-choice, plus a number of other companies that…