Ripoff Report Gets a Pricey Lesson on Section 230–Selker v. Xcentric

…a false attack review; he paid Ripoff Report $2,500 to deindex the review; and he tried to enter into Ripoff Report’s “VIP arbitration” service but wouldn’t agree to the arbitration…

First Circuit Says Mirroring Qualifies for Section 230–Monsarrat v. Newman

…with negative Ripoff Reports critiquing him. Goren won a default judgment against the poster and then improperly got the state court to transfer the copyrights to the offending posts to…

2H 2019 and Q1 2020 Quick Links, Part 4 (Section 230)

…property claims.” * Davidson v. Xcentric Ventures, 1:18-cv-11394-JCB (D. Mass. Aug. 15, 2019). Ripoff Report gets easy Section 230 win in pro se lawsuit. * Meyers v. Certified Guaranty Company…

Website Denied Section 230 for No Good Reason, Wins the Case Anyways–DF Pace v. Baker-White

…own words. See, e.g., Milo v. Martin. The “Ripoff Report” and “PissedConsumer” cases are also highly relevant here, because both of those sites ensure a negative context for the third-party…

1H 2019 Quick Links, Part 5 (Censorship, Defamation)

…* Maddox Defense, Inc. v. Geodata Systems Management, Inc., 2019-Ohio-1778 (Ohio Ct. App. May 9, 2019): “reasonable readers would assume the statements made on the Ripoff Report website are opinions”…

The California Supreme Court Didn’t Ruin Section 230 (Today)–Hassell v. Bird

…Court Fixes Erroneous 47 USC 230 Ruling–Giordano v. Romeo * Ripoff Report Ordered to Stop Publishing User-Submitted Report–Giordano v. Romeo * Ripoff Report Isn’t Bound By Injunction Against User Post–Blockowicz…

2H 2017 & Q1 2018 Quick Links, Part 3: Section 230, Consumer Reviews

…288 Or. App. 729 (Nov. 8, 2017): “a reasonable factfinder could conclude that the two statements at issue in defendant’s Ripoff Report posting—that “Chiefaircraft.com Has so many chargebacks on their…

Ripoff Report Is “Lucky” Plaintiff Didn’t Allege Extortion–Albert v. Ragland

…Yelp won an anti-SLAPP ruling based on Section 230. This ruling affirms Yelp’s $30k fee shift for winning that anti-SLAPP motion to strike. This ruling also affirms Ripoff Report’s anti-SLAPP…

First Circuit Rejects Copyright Workaround to Section 230–Small Justice v. Ripoff Report

…court says that Ripoff Report performed its end of the bargain by publishing DuPont’s reviews, mooting any consideration concerns. Goren also argued that Ripoff Report’s contract was void for public…

1H 2017 Quick Links, Part 6 (Defamation, Section 230, Consumer Reviews)

Defamation * Gillon v. Bernstein, Civ. No. 2:12-4891 (WJM) (D.N.J. Nov. 3, 2016). No liability for negative Ripoff Report. * Jackson v. Mayweather, 2017 WL 1131869 (Cal. Ct. App. March…