Iowa Offers Tax Breaks to “Web Search Portal Businesses”
By Eric Goldman Iowa, showing its technological savvy, has passed a law providing some tax abatements for “web search portal businesses” that invest $200M in the state in 6 years. See HF 2233, enacted Feb. 28, 2008. Most industry participants…
47 USC 230 Day at the Technology & Marketing Law Blog
By Eric Goldman Today is 47 USC 230 Day at the Technology & Marketing Law Blog as we catch up on a hat trick of recent 47 USC 230 opinions. 1) Gregerson v. Vilana Financial, Inc., 2008 WL 451060 (D….
Utah Amends Trademark Protection Act (But Only After Some Drama)
By Eric Goldman One of the arguments in favor of federalism is that it enables states to act as “laboratories of experimentation,” a phrase attributed to Louis Brandeis. The idea is that if enough states try different things legislatively, then…
Utah Quietly Killing the Trademark Protection Act [UPDATED]
By Eric Goldman [See update below] We’re coming up on the one year anniversary of the Utah Trademark Protection Act, Utah’s effort to kill/tax keyword advertising. It looks like the law may not survive until its first birthday, as the…
Lifestyle Lift Tries to Use TM Law to Shut Down User Discussions; Website Countersues for Shilling–Lifestyle Lift v. RealSelf
By Eric Goldman Lifestyle Lift Holding, Inc. v. RealSelf Inc., 2:08-cv-10089-PJD-RSW (complaint filed Jan. 7, 2008 and answer/counterclaims filed March 3, 2008) [disclosure note: I have done some legal work for RealSelf, including some limited counseling on this lawsuit] No…
Feb. 2008 Quick Links
By Eric Goldman Advertising * BusinessWeek: Monetizing social networking sites isn’t as easy as everyone had hoped, clickthrough rates are through the floor (0.04%!), and ad proliferation on the sites is driving users away. * Wilbur, Kenneth C. and Zhu,…