Yahoo Not Civilly Liable for User-Disseminated Child Porn–Doe v. Bates
By Eric Goldman Doe v. Bates, No. 5:05CV91 (E.D. Tex. Jan. 18, 2006) Introduction The facts of this case are virtually identical to the Doe v. AOL case from the late 1990s. In this case, Yahoo provided email and web…
Your License, Registration and DNA, Please?
Congress Passes, President Signs, Press ignores…
As broader nationwide DNA database becomes law, states rush to fill database with expanded collection laws of their own.
Anti-Spyware Coalition Workshop Recap
By Eric Goldman I attended the Anti-Spyware Coalition Public Workshop last week in Washington DC. This was a well-attended event (my guess is that 300+ people attended), with a good mix of anti-spyware vendors, anti-spyware activists, adware vendors, policy wonks/politicos…
10th Circuit Recognizes Initial Interest Confusion Doctrine–Australian Gold v. Hatfield
By Eric Goldman Australian Gold, Inc. v. Hatfield, 2005 WL 3739862 (10th Cir. Feb. 7, 2006) Following on a regressive initial interest confusion/metatags case from January, last week the 10th Circuit found initial interest confusion based on metatag usage and…
Craigslist Sued for Fair Housing Act Violation–Chicago Lawyers Committee v. Craigslist
By Eric Goldman Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Inc. v. Craigslist, Inc., Case No. 06C-0657 (N.D. Ill. complaint filed Feb. 3, 2006) Craigslist, the free online classified site, has been sued by a group of lawyers for…
BitTorrent to Enforce BITTORRENT Trademark
Mark Schultz BitTorrent makes the news once again, this time as a trademark enforcer. ZDNet reports that the company formed by BitTorrent creator Bram Cohen, BitTorrent, Inc., will begin asserting trademark rights in BITTORRENT against software developers who make unauthorized…
Operation Site Down Fallout–19 RISCISO Participants Indicted for Warez Trading
By Eric Goldman I previously blogged on Operation Site Down, one of the largest warez busts ever. In “Operation Jolly Roger,” a component of the larger Operation Site Down, a cooperating witness gave the FBI access to the RISCISO warez…
Checking Your Spamming Burdens at the Dormant Commerce Clause/Jurisdiction Doors?
An update on the disjointed state of state spam law cases By Ethan Ackerman Despite the passage of the federal CAN-SPAM Act in 2003, state spam laws continue to be enforced by states, and it appears private litigation under them…
Metatags as Per Se Trademark Infringement–Tdata v. Aircraft Technical Publishers
By Eric Goldman Good grief. Lawsuits over metatag usage are so 1999. Yet, we continue to get a steady stream of cases that treat inclusion of a competitor’s trademark in a metatag as a per se trademark infringement. I’ve explained…
Congress, Search Engines and China
By Eric Goldman OPEN LETTER TO THE MEMBERS OF THE CONGRESSIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS CAUCUS Dear Caucus members, Like you, I do not like the fact that search engines are helping China effectuate its repressive policies. However, I am confused why…