Independent Contractor Relationship Between Sender and Advertiser Dooms Spam Claims – Kramer v. NCS
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Kramer v. NCS, 12-1956 (8th Cir. May 28, 2013) Kramer, who operated an internet service provider in Clinton, Iowa, filed an ambitious–and as it turned out, ultimately quixotic–lawsuit over spam emails. He initially sued 300 unnamed…
Facebook Posting of Criminal Trial’s Witness List Isn’t a “True Threat”–US v. Amaya
By Eric Goldman U.S. v. Amaya, 2013 WL 2548393 (N.D. Iowa, June 11, 2013) This is a quite lengthy sentencing opinion following Amaya’s meth conviction, a not uncommon circumstance given the disproportionately high meth sentences produced by the sentencing guidelines….
Warranty Disclaimer in PC TuneUp’s EULA Fails — Rottner v. AVG
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with comments by Eric] Rottner v. AVG Technologies, 12-10920-RGS (D. Mass May 3, 2013) [pdf] Rottner sued AVG Technologies on behalf of a putative class, alleging that AVG’s “PC TuneUp” product did not perform as advertised….
Online Dating Websites Aren’t Required To Warn That Some Members May Be Murderers (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman Beckman v. Match.com, 2013 WL 2355512 (D. Nev. May 29, 2013) and Okeke v. Cars.com, 2013 N.Y. Slip Op. 23174 (N.Y.City Civ. Ct. May 28, 2013) Mary Kay Beckman suffered an online dating nightmare. She met Wade Mitchell…
CAN-SPAM Violations For Private WHOIS Information and Putting Disclosures in Remotely Served Images – ZooBuh v. Better Broadcasting
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Zoobuh, Inc. v. Better Broadcasting, LLC, 11cv00516-DN (D. Utah May 31, 2013) Spam litigation has waned. In its place, text message litigation has blossomed. Still, once in awhile an interesting spam decision comes along, though unfortunately…
Craigslist’s Anti-Consumer Lawsuit Threatens to Break Internet Law–Craigslist v. 3Taps/Padmapper (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman Craigslist, Inc. v. 3Taps, Inc., 2013 WL 1819999 (N.D. Cal. April 30, 2013) Craigslist is one of the best examples of the Internet’s sharing economy. Craigslist improves markets by helping buyers and sellers find each other. Remarkably, it…
Vermont Enacts The Nation’s First Anti-Patent Trolling Law (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman Efforts to crack down on patent trolling are escalating. Just a couple of years ago, Congress passed a major amendment of the Patent Act (the America Invents Act) with the hope that it would curb some abusive…