Ripoff Report Gets Easy Section 230 Win In Third Circuit–Obado v. Magedson
This was a really interesting pro se challenge to Section 230. The lower court opinion contained all kinds of gems, including holding that Section 230 applies to Google’s autocomplete and to allegations of search engine manipulation. The Third Circuit’s opinion…
Blogger Isn’t Liable For Anonymous Reader Comments–Mezzacappa v. O’Hare
Bernie O’Hare ran a blog called “Lehigh Valley Ramblings.” I’m focusing on the court’s treatment of four anonymous comments posted in response to O’Hare’s blogging about Tricia Mezzacappa. In general, bloggers aren’t liable for reader comments per Section 230. See…
More Section 230 Cases Than I Can Handle!
My cup runneth over with Section 230 cases! This long blog post catches up on a few from the past couple months. Warning: there are some stinkers in this batch. Google, Inc. v. Hood, 2015 WL 1546160 (S.D. Miss. March…
Mixed Ruling in Competitive Keyword Advertising Case–Goldline v. Regal
The lawsuit’s principal participants are rivals in the precious metals and coin industry. The defendant organization, Regal, has an affiliate program, and it appears that some affiliates bought competitive keyword advertising using the plaintiff Goldline’s trademark. The ruling is on…
Union Isn’t Liable For Members’ Posts To Private Facebook Group–Weigand v. NLRB
This case relates to a bus drivers’ strike in 2012. During the strike, union members posted “impassioned and bellicose” comments about the strike on the union’s Facebook page, which was accessible only to union members. The union didn’t authorize those…
Q4 2014 & Q1 2015 Quick Links Part 7 (Consumer Reviews, RTBF, Defamation, Censorship, Sec. 230)
International Censorship * WaPo: This was the Internet’s worst, best year ever * Wired: Russia’s Creeping Descent Into Internet Censorship * Washington Post: Russia just made a ton of Internet memes illegal * NY Times: Hungary Drops Internet Tax Plan…
Q4 2014 & Q1 2015 Quick Links Part 2 (Dating, Sex, Pornography)
Dating and Sex * The Atlantic: The Adultery Arms Race * NY Times: Extramarital Dating Site Unsettles the Land of Discreet Affairs * San Francisco Magazine: The cold mathematics of sugar daddy dating. * FTC: Online Dating Service Agrees to…
GA Supreme Court Fixes Overbroad Injunction Against Message Board Operator–Chan v. Ellis
This case involves message board posts by a community that criticized Ellis’s copyright enforcement efforts. Ellis sought and obtained a protection order against Chan, the operator of the message board, on the legal grounds that the users’ posts constituted “stalking”….
Court Rejects Bizarre Attempt To Scrub Consumer Review–Goren v. Ripoff Report
I previously blogged about this matter (see also Venkat’s update). A Massachusetts attorney, Goren, was unhappy about a user review of his law firm posted to Ripoff Report, which is well-known for not removing user posts. The plaintiffs sued the…
Online Dating App Grindr Isn’t Liable For Underage ‘Threesome’ (Forbes Cross-Post)
Many online dating services undertake some efforts to screen out dangerous or problematic members, but what should the law do if those screening efforts aren’t perfect? As a recent case involving Grindr shows, the answer is nothing. Grindr is an…