StubHub Denied Section 230 Defense in Scalping Case–Hill v. StubHub
By Eric Goldman Hill v. StubHub, Inc., 2011 WL 1675043 (N.C. Super. Ct. Feb. 28, 2011). My previous blog post in this case. This is a putative class action lawsuit against StubHub for violating North Carolina’s anti-scalping laws, which both…
Republisher of Youthful Sexting Photos Avoids Liability (For Now)–Doe v. Peterson
By Eric Goldman Doe v. Peterson, 2011 WL 1120172 (E.D. Mich. March 24, 2011) This is an interesting sexting lawsuit. Doe took explicit photos of herself and sent them via MySpace to her then-boyfriend. She did not follow my recommendations…
March 2011 Quick Links, Part 2
By Eric Goldman Trademark * Apple is on the road to CrazyTown with its attempt to secure and protect trademark rights in “App Store.” Among the “highlights” this month: – it sued Amazon. Marty’s comments. The Justia page. – Microsoft…
Online Booksellers Get 47 USC 230 Immunity for Publisher-Supplied Marketing Collateral–Parisi v. Sinclair
By Eric Goldman Parisi v. Sinclair, 2011 WL 1206193 (D.C. D.C. March 31, 2011). The complaint. More source documents. Sinclair self-published a book that Parisi believes defamed him. The book showed up in Books-a-Million, B&N and Amazon. All of the…
March 2011 Quick Links, Part 1 (Special Copyright Edition)
By Eric Goldman * Big news #1: Judge Chin rejected the Google Book Search settlement. The opinion. If you read only one commentary about the rejection, it should be James Grimmelmann’s recap. My 2008 comments on the settlement. * Big…
Trademark Owner Gets Injunction Against Keyword Ad Campaign That Generated No Sales for the Advertiser
By Eric Goldman InternetShopsInc.com v. Six C Consulting, Inc., 2011 WL 1113445 (N.D. Ga. March 24, 2011) [I know the headline sounds like an April Fools joke, but no April Fools here…although, as I will show, this case definitely involved…
Defendant Succeeds On Second Attempt With a Section 230 Dismissal–Mealer v. GMAC
By Eric Goldman Mealer v. GMAC Mortgage LLC, 2011 WL 1103357 (D. Ariz. March 25, 2011) I previously blogged about this case a few weeks ago. Mealer claims that a GM employee, Kordella, bad-mouthed him in a comment on Mealer’s…
Groupon Hit With Two Lanham Act Lawsuits, and One Takes Google Along for the Ride
By Eric Goldman Groupion, LLC v. Groupon, Inc., 3:11-cv-00870-EMC (N.D. Cal. complaint filed Feb. 24, 2011) San Francisco Comprehensive Tours, LLC v. Groupon, Inc., CV-1300 (N.D. Cal. complaint filed March 17, 2011) __________ A company doesn’t reach a purported $6B…
Another Advertiser Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Google–Woods v. Google
By Eric Goldman Woods v. Google Inc., 5:11-cv-01263-HRL (N.D. Cal. complaint filed March 15, 2011) Since Google settled its click fraud lawsuits in 2006 and the CLRB Hanson case in 2009, it’s been a little quiet on the advertiser-vs.-Google class…
Illinois Identity Theft Statute Partially Invalidated–People v. Madrigal
By Eric Goldman People v. Madrigal, 2011 WL 1074427 (Ill. March 24, 2011) Many state anti-identity theft laws are written very broadly. This loose drafting creates the possibility that they unintentionally restrict innocent–and indeed socially desirable–activity. Today’s case is a…