Company That Facilitates Digital Access to Public Records Uses CFAA to Block Scraper

Company That Facilitates Digital Access to Public Records Uses CFAA to Block Scraper

[Eric’s introduction: this post has been sitting in our tank over a month. I put a hold on it when I was considering using this fact pattern for my Internet Law exam. I decided to go in a different direction,…

Fake LinkedIn Profile May Cause Trademark Infringement – Avepoint v. Axceler

Fake LinkedIn Profile May Cause Trademark Infringement – Avepoint v. Axceler

Avepoint, Inc. v. Power Tools, Inc. d/b/a Axceler, 7:13CV00035 (W.D. Va. Nov. 7, 2013) Avepoint and Axceler are competitors providing “infrastructure management and governance software platforms for Microsoft Sharepoint products and technologies.” Avepoint alleged that Axceler denigrated Avepoint online. Specifically,…

Think Hoarding Passwords Keeps You Safe From Firing? Think Again (Forbes Cross-Post)

Think Hoarding Passwords Keeps You Safe From Firing? Think Again (Forbes Cross-Post)

Most employees think they are indispensable to their employers, but in fact, most employees are easily replaced. A recent legal ruling involved an IT manager who sought job security by holding “the keys to the kingdom”–the passwords to the company’s…

Google Wins Cookie Privacy Lawsuit

Google Wins Cookie Privacy Lawsuit

In re Google Inc. Cookie Placement Consumer Privacy Litigation, MDL Civ No. 12-2358 (D. Del. Oct. 9, 2013) [pdf] The factual background in the court’s order is fairly brief. In a nutshell, plaintiffs sued Google, along with advertisers and networks,…

Presentation About the Problems of Online Trespass to Chattels

Presentation About the Problems of Online Trespass to Chattels

You may recall my prior post where I outlined my conceptual objections to online trespass to chattels doctrines, including the common law, the Computer Fraud & Abuse Act and state computer crime laws like California Penal Code Sec. 502. As…

Calling Out Scraper for "Stealing" Data Is Not Defamatory – Tamburo v. Dworkin

Calling Out Scraper for “Stealing” Data Is Not Defamatory – Tamburo v. Dworkin

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Tamburo v. Dworkin, 04 C 3317 (N.D. Ill. Sept. 26, 2013) This is an interesting dispute that brings together several legal doctrines we love to cover here. It’s the type of fact pattern a law school…

Creating Parody Social Media Accounts Doesn’t Violate Computer Fraud & Abuse Act – Matot v. CH

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Matot v. CH, et al, 13-cv-153-TC (D.Or.) (Report and Recommendation, Aug. 19, 2013) (Order Dismissing Lawsuit, Sept. 26, 2013) This is a strange lawsuit brought by an assistant middle high school principal who alleged that defendants…

Craigslist Wins Routine But Troubling Online Trespass to Chattels Ruling in 3Taps Case (Catch-up Post)

By Eric Goldman Craigslist Inc. v. 3Taps Inc., 2013 WL 4447520 (N.D. Cal. August 16, 2013) I ran out of time to blog this ruling when it first came out, but it’s worth noting now. You may recall this dispute…

Multiple Listing Service Gets Favorable Appellate Ruling in Scraping Lawsuit

By Jake McGowan, with comments from Eric & Venkat Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, Inc. v. American Home Realty Network, Inc., 2013 WL 3722365 (4th Cir. July 17, 2013) This is a follow-up to our massive post on anti-scraping lawsuits in the…

H1 2013 Quick Links, Part 4 (Miscellaneous)

By Eric Goldman and Jake McGowan CFAA/Trespass * My colleague Kyle Graham traces the early history of California Penal Code Sec. 502. * Andrew Sellars on the Aaron Schwartz prosecution and Rep. Lofgren’s proposed Aaron’s Law. Related blog post. Consumer Protection * Interesting…