Court Smacks Down Koch Industries’ Attempt to Shut Down Satirical Website — Koch Industries v. Does
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Koch Industries, Inc. v. Does, 10CV1275DAK (D. Utah; May 9, 2011) [.pdf] [This is one of those cases that I intended to cover when it came out, but it got lost in the shuffle. Eric talks…
Power.com Up For Auction — Facebook v. Power Ventures
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Facebook v. Power Ventures, Case No. 5:08-cv-05780 JW (N.D. Cal.) [Update/Clarification: I received an email from the CEO of RokMe Inc. (who is handling the power.com auction) to this effect: Power.com is being sold by its…
Court Rejects First Amendment Challenge to CAN-SPAM Indictment — US v. Smallwood
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani, with comments from Ethan Ackerman] US v. Smallwood, 09-CR-00249 (N.D. Tex.; July 15, 2011) First Amendment challenges to spam statutes are long shots at best, with Jaynes v. Virginia being the big exception. In this case,…
Employee Terminated for Accessing ‘Inappropriate’ Websites not Entitled to Unemployment Benefits — Berglund v. ITI
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Berglund v. Industrial Tech. Institute, No. 298227 (Mich. Ct. App. July 21, 2011) Berglund worked at Industrial Technology Institute and was terminated for “using his computer to access inappropriate websites” (and for printing materials unrelated to…
Social Media Marketing Is Relevant to Trademark Confusion Analysis–Quia v. Mattel
By Eric Goldman Quia Corp. v. Mattel, Inc., 2011 WL 2749576 (N.D.Cal. July 14, 2011) Both parties offer educational games under the brand “IXL” (presumably a homophone for “I excel”). The parties dispute who came first. Mattel sought a determination…
P2P Swarm Defendants Can’t Be Joined in the Same Lawsuit — Pac. Century Int’l Ltd. v. Does
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Pacific Century International Ltd. v. Does, C-11-02533 (DMR) (N.D. Cal. July 8, 2011) There have been a slew of recent procedural rulings in mass copyright cases, with plaintiffs mostly getting smacked down by courts. Plaintiffs have…
Judge Ware OKs Immediate Appeal of Street View ECPA Ruling — In re Google Inc. Street View Electronic Communications Litigation
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] In re Google Inc. Street View Electronic Communications Litigation, 2011 WL 2571632 (N.D. Cal. July 18, 2011) (Order granting Google’s request to certify and staying case) [pdf] Judge Ware recently denied Google’s request to avail itself…
The “Graduated Response” Deal: What if Users Had Been At the Table? (Co-Authored Post)
[Cross-posted to EFF’s Deeplinks as well as here] By Corynne McSherry and Eric Goldman As was widely reported last week, several major internet access providers (including, very likely, yours) struck a deal last week with big content providers to help…
Court Denies Injunction in Webcam Case Against Aarons — Byrd v. Aarons, Inc.
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Byrd, et al. v. Aaron’s, Inc., et al., 11-cv-00101-SJM-SPB (W.D. Pa. July 8, 2011). Magistrate report. Judge’s approval. Plaintiffs leased (and then purchased) their computer from Aspen Way, a franchisee of Aaron’s. Many of the computers…
17 USC 512(f) Preempts State Law Claims Over Bogus Copyright Takedown Notices–Amaretto v. Ozimals
By Eric Goldman Amaretto Ranch Breedables, LLC v. Ozimals, Inc., 2011 WL 2690437 (N.D. Cal. July 8, 2011). I generally like furry critters, but I’m beginning to hate the virtual horses and virtual bunnies for their deleterious effect on Internet…