Comments on Doe v. IMDB Privacy Lawsuit
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Doe v. Amazon.com, Inc. and IMDB.com, Inc., 11-cv-1709 (W.D. Wash.; Oct. 13, 2011) An actress who goes by a stage name sued IMDB and Amazon for disclosing her birthdate, which IMDB allegedly obtained through the payment…
Court Rejects Copyright Misuse Defense Against Apple and Affirms License Restrictions in OS X License Agreement — Apple v. Psystar
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Apple Inc. v. Psystar Corp., 10-15113 (9th Cir. Sept. 28, 2011) [pdf] This is a dispute over whether Apple can enforce a restriction in its software license agreements which requires end users to run the Mac…
Lawsuit Against Google Over Invalid Clicks and Special Partner Advertising Dismissed — Woods v. Google
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with comments from Eric] Woods v. Google, 5:10-cv-1263-JF (N.D. Cal.; Aug 10, 2011) This is an advertiser vs. Google lawsuit where the plaintiff argued on behalf of a putative class that (1) he was improperly charged…
Court Disregards Check-the-Box Agreement and Doesn’t Enforce Venue Clause — Dunstan v. comScore
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with additional comments from Eric] Dunstan v. comScore, Inc., 11-cv-05807 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 7, 2011) Plaintiffs sued comScore, alleging that comScore improperly obtained and misused plaintiff’s personal information, after plaintiffs downloaded and used comScore’s software. comScore…
Court Dismisses Lawsuit Under Michigan Spam Statute Based on Preemption and Lack of Standing — Hafke v. Rossdale Group, LLC
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Hafke v. Rossdale Group, LLC, 11-cv-220 (W.D. Mich.; Oct. 7, 2011) Hafke described himself as someone who is “attempting to stop Spam in Michigan.” He sued Rossdale, a continuing legal education provider, complaining about six unsolicited…
Spam Claims Covered by Contract’s Indemnity Clause–Commonwealth Marketing Group v. IMG Assocs.
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Commonwealth Mktg. Group v. IMG Assocs., 08-5074 (W.D. Wash. Sept. 28, 2011) Commonwealth Marketing asserted claims for indemnification against IMG Associates, for underlying claims brought by prolific spam plaintiff James Gordon. Among other cases, Gordon is…
Massachusetts Court Dismisses Lawsuit Alleging Failure to Adequately Safeguard Personal Information — Katz v. Pershing
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Katz v. Pershing, LLC, 10-12227-RGS (D. Mass. Aug 23, 2011) Background: Katz maintained an account at National Planning Corporation, an “introducing firm” for which Pershing provides brokerage clearing services. Pershing’s services are provided on a proprietary…
Court Nukes Another Mass Defendant File-Sharing Lawsuit — Digiprotect v. Does
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] DigiProtect USA v. Does, 10 Civ. 8760 (S.D.N.Y.; Sept. 26, 2011) Plenty of bad news for copyright plaintiffs lately. Righthaven is getting hammered left and right and is struggling (to say the least) to keep any…
Ca. Court of Appeal Vacates $100,000 Non-Party Discovery Sanction Against Facebook — In re J.G.
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] In re J.G., A128898; A129157 (Ca Ct. App.; Sept. 30, 2011) Background: This involved a juvenile proceeding where J.G., a minor, was charged with the offenses of forcible sexual penetration and false imprisonment. During the proceedings,…
9th Cir.: ECPA Protects Non-Citizen Communications Stored in the US — Suzlon Energy v. Microsoft
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Suzlon Energy Ltd. v. Microsoft Corp., 10-35793 (9th Cir. Oct. 3, 2011) [pdf] Suzlon Energy sought emails from Microsoft for use against Sridhar, an Indian citizen, in a civil lawsuit pending in Australia. It filed a…