Judge Seeborg Rejects Sponsored Stories Settlement For Now — Fraley v. Facebook
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Fraley v. Facebook, C 11-1726 RS (N.D. Cal.; Aug 17, 2012) We’ve covered the Facebook Sponsored Stories litigation before. It’s a putative class action arguing that Facebook improperly used the likeness and personality rights of its…
Why Did Google Flip-Flop On Cracking Down On “Rogue” Websites? Some Troubling Possibilities (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman Earlier this month, Google announced that it may downgrade search results for a website if Google receives a high volume of “valid” takedown notices against the website. Google’s move has confused many Google-watchers, largely because the exact…
No Privacy Claim Against Netflix for Disclosing Viewing Histories and Instant Queue Titles Through Netflix-Enabled Devices — Mollett v. Netflix
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Mollett v. Netflix, 11-CV-01629 (N.D. Cal.; Aug 17, 2012) This is a putative class action under the Video Privacy Protection Act alleging Netflix violated the VPPA (and Cal. Civ. Code 1799.3) by .. get this …..
6th Circuit Allows Police GPS Tracking on Prepaid “Burner” Phones — United States v. Skinner
[Post by Jake McGowan] United States v. Skinner, 09-6497 (6th Cir. August 14, 2012) If the name Stringer Bell means anything to you, you probably know what a “burner” is. The third season of The Wire saw aspiring drug runner…
Judge Alsup Tells Google to Try Harder With Its Shill Disclosures
By Eric Goldman Oracle America, Inc. v. Google Inc., 3:10-cv-03561-WHA (N.D. Cal. Aug. 20, 2012) I can’t imagine Google is surprised that Judge Alsup did not like its response to his request that Google and Oracle disclose potential shills in…
Oracle and Google Make Unenlightening Disclosures of their “Shills”
By Eric Goldman In Oracle v. Google, Judge Alsup recently ordered the parties to: [f]ile a statement . . . identifying all authors, journalists, commentators or bloggers who have reported or commented on any issues in the case and who…
Section 230 Immunizes Links to Defamatory Third Party Content–Directory Assistants v. Supermedia
By Eric Goldman Directory Assistants, Inc. v. Supermedia, LLC, 2012 WL 3329615 (E.D. Va. May 30, 2012) [For some reason, this case just appeared in my Westlaw alerts today. Even at this late date, it’s worth sharing. I have a…
No Fourth Amendment Violation When Your Facebook “Friend” Shares Profile Information With Law Enforcement–US v. Meregildo
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] US v. Meregildo, No. 11 CR 576 (WHP) (S.D.N.Y.; Aug 10, 2012) Colon moved to suppress evidence seized from his Facebook account pursuant to a warrant. He did not contest the finding of probable cause, but…
Six-Month Retrospective of SOPA’s Demise [Forbes Cross-Post, A Month Late!] + SOPA/PROTECT-IP/OPEN Linkwrap #3
By Eric Goldman [This post is composed of three parts. The first part, all 2,700 words of it, is a cross-post from Forbes last month assessing where we stood 6 months after January 18, 2012. Sorry it’s taken me so…
No Liability for Takedown Notice that Results in Termination of Facebook Page — Lown Cos. v. Piggy Paint
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani, with comments from Eric] Lown Companies v. Piggy Paint, LLC, 1:11-cv-911 (W.D. Mich.; Aug. 9, 2012) Lown and Piggy Paint are squabbling over “piggy paint” trademarks. Lown has a registration for “PIGGY POLISH,” and alleges that…