Facebook’s “Browsewrap” Enforced Against Kids–EKD v. Facebook
By Eric Goldman E.K.D. v. Facebook, Inc., 3:12-cv-01216-JCS (S.D. Ill. March 8, 2012). The complaint. This opinion reaches two interesting conclusions. First, it says children-users can’t disaffirm Facebook’s terms of service (TOS) so long as they keep using the site….
Reidentification Theory Doesn’t Save Privacy Lawsuit–Steinberg v. CVS Caremark
By Eric Goldman Steinberg v. CVS Caremark Corp., 2012 WL 507807 (E.D. Pa. Feb. 16, 2012) CVS Caremark provided consumer data to pharma companies and data brokers. The plaintiffs alleged that the data transfers violated CVS’s privacy policies, but CVS…
Posting Family Photos to Facebook With Snarky Comments Isn’t Harassment of Family Member — Olson v. LaBrie
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with comments from Eric] Olson v. LaBrie, 2012 WL 426585 (Minn. App. Ct. Feb. 13, 2012) This case is what happens when a headline from The Onion comes to life. Aaron Olson sought a harassment restraining…
Court Denies Kravitz’s Motion to Dismiss PhoneDog’s Amended Claims — PhoneDog v. Kravitz
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] PhoneDog v. Kravitz, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10561 (N.D. Cal.; Jan. 30, 2012) PhoneDog and Kravitz are fighting over ownership of the Twitter account Kravitz used while he was working for PhoneDog. In an earlier order,…
Facebook “Sponsored Stories” Publicity Rights Lawsuit Survives Motion to Dismiss–Fraley v. Facebook
By Eric Goldman Fraley v. Facebook, Inc., 2011 WL 6303898 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 16, 2012) Because Facebook does so many things that aren’t in users’ interests, their “Sponsored Stories” program barely registers. Nevertheless, Sponsored Stories demonstrates why many people are…
Employee’s Claims Against Employer for Unauthorized Use of Social Media Accounts Move Forward–Maremont v. SF Design Group
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Maremont v. Susan Fredman Design Group, Ltd., et al., 10 C 7811 (N.D. Ill.; Dec. 7, 2011) I blogged about a case earlier this year where a plaintiff sued her former employer for improperly accessing the…
Court Awards Damages for Wrongful Disruption of Web Presence — Ordonez v. Icon Sky Holdings
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Ordonez v. Icon Sky Holdings LLC, 10-cv-60156-PAS (S.D. Fla. Aug. 30, 2011) This was another dispute involving two parties who jockeyed for control of an online presence. I guess you could say that one “jacked” the…
Publicity Rights Class Action Against Facebook Over Promotion of ‘Friend Finder’ Service Dismissed — Cohen v. Facebook
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Cohen v. Facebook, Inc., C10-5282, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 124506 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 27, 2011) This is a putative class action against Facebook for “promoting its ‘friend finder’ feature by disclosing to users that their Facebook…
Gilbert Arenas’ Tweets Sinks His Motion to Enjoin “The Basketball Wives” — Arenas v. Shed Media
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Arenas v. Shed Media, CV 11-05279 (C.D. Cal.; Aug 22, 2011) Arenas is a basketball player for the Orlando Magic. He goes by various nicknames, including “Agent Zero, Agent Arenas, and Hibachi.” Arenas and Laura Govan…
Marijuana Activist Can’t Change His Name to “NJWeedman.com” — In re Forchion
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with additional comments by guest blogger Laura Heymann and Eric] [Eric’s note: this may be our first post with *three* different bloggers covering the same case! Venkat starts us off:] In re Robert Edward Forchion, Jr.,…