By Eric Goldman It’s been a rough week for Medical Justice, the company that tries to help doctors suppress patient reviews. First, the Center for Democracy and Technology filed an FTC complaint alleging three main points: (1) Medical Justice deceives…

By Eric Goldman Hopkins v. Doe #1, 2011 WL 5921446 (N.D. Ga. Nov. 28, 2011). The initial complaint. Hopkins’ lawsuit-related website. This lawsuit relates to allegedly defamatory statements that Does made about Hopkins on Topix. As a pro se, Hopkins…

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Largent v. Reed, 2009-1823 (Pa. Ct. of Common Pleas; Nov. 8, 2011) Keith and Jessica Largent were involved in an accident in 2007. They sued Jessica Rosko and Sagrario Pena alleging negligence and loss of consortium….

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani, with comments from Eric] In re Facebook, Inc. (Nov. 29, 2011) (Settlement & Proposed Consent Decree [pdf]) (Mark Zuckerberg’s blog post) The FTC announced its long-rumored settlement with Facebook. The key terms: • Facebook is barred…

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Chanel, Inc. v. Does, et al., 11-cv-01508-KJD-PAL (D. Nev.) (Sept. 26, 2011 Order) (Oct. 11, 2011 Order) (Nov. 14, 2011 Order) Luxury brand Chanel has engaged in a fierce campaign against counterfeit websites in federal court…

By Eric Goldman In light of SOPA and its capacity to destroy the current online safe harbor scheme, it seems almost quaint to keep worrying about 17 USC 512. However, unless SOPA/PROTECT-IP passes, 512 remains an essential part of the…

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Sterk v. Redbox, 11 c 1729 (N.D. Ill. Aug 19, 2011) Redbox is a company which rents DVDs to customers from automated, self-service kiosks, typically charging $1 per rental. The customer is required to return the…

By Eric Goldman Inman v. Technicolor USA, Inc., 2011 WL 5829024 (W.D. Pa. Nov. 18, 2011) Today, I’m thankful for 47 USC 230. Whenever I think about it, I am still incredulous the law is on the books. Nowadays, Congress’…

[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…

By John Ottaviani with comments from Venkat and Eric Vergara Hermosilla v. The Coca Cola Company, No. 11-11317 (11th Cir. Nov. 3, 2011). Can a copyright be assigned by an exchange of emails? Section 204(a) of the Copyright Act provides…