Should We Cheer The California Attorney General’s Revenge Porn Arrest–Or Find It Alarming? (Forbes Cross-Post)
The California Attorney General’s office announced the arrest of Kevin Christopher Bollaert for his role in a revenge porn scheme. Most folks are cheering the arrest for understandable reasons: revenge porn is odious, especially when victims must pay to remove…
SPEECH Act Defendant Gets $48,000 In Attorneys’ Fees–Trout Point Lodge Ltd. v. Handshoe
The SPEECH Act combats libel tourism, the process of trying to enforce an international defamation ruling in the United States if the ruling isn’t consistent with U.S. law. The leading SPEECH Act case is Trout Point Lodge Ltd. v. Handshoe….
My Testimony on California’s Efforts to Regulate Internet Privacy
Introductory note: today Santa Clara University hosted “Balancing Privacy and Opportunity in the Internet Age,” An Informational Hearing of the Assembly Judiciary Committee, the Assembly Business, Professions & Consumer Protection Committee, and the Assembly Select Committee on Privacy. My prior…
How Doctors Should Respond To Negative Online Reviews (Forbes Cross-Post)
Most businesses have mixed emotions about online consumer reviews, but the doctor community has opposed consumer reviews of their services to an unusual degree. Why? Some possible explanations: Doctors are sensitive about their reputation. Small business owners (including doctors) have…
Should TheDirty Website Be Liable For Encouraging Users To Gossip? (Forbes Cross-Post)
A major Internet Law battle is brewing in the Sixth Circuit federal appellate court in Kentucky. Potentially at stake is the future of the Web 2.0 ecosystem and user-generated content–which is why many of the Internet’s biggest and high-profile companies…
![Keyword Advertising Lawsuits Against Search Engines Mostly Tossed--Parts[.]com v. Google and Yahoo](https://blog.ericgoldman.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/shutterstock_1174959402-150x150.jpg)
Keyword Advertising Lawsuits Against Search Engines Mostly Tossed–Parts[.]com v. Google and Yahoo
I know of only two pending trademark lawsuits against search engines for selling trademarked keywords: Parts.com and Carla Ison. Ison’s lawsuit has been dismissed and is on appeal, where it will be crushed. This week, Parts.com’s lawsuits against Google and…
California Assembly Hearing, “Balancing Privacy and Opportunity in the Internet Age,” SCU, Dec. 12
Santa Clara University is hosting a joint hearing of the California State Assembly’s Judiciary Committee, Business, Professions And Consumer Protection Committee, and Select Committee On Privacy on December 12, 2013, 9 am to 1 pm. The hearing is entitled “Balancing…
Google Gets Dismissal of Lawsuit Over Privacy Policy Integration–In re Google Privacy Policy
This is another potentially important but head-scratching Northern District of California ruling in an Internet privacy lawsuit. This lawsuit involves Google’s integration of its various product-specific databases of user information into one giant across-Google Database of Ruin. It was inevitable…
Why Google’s Fair Use Victory In Google Books Suit Is A Big Deal–And Why It Isn’t (Forbes Cross-Post)
Last month, federal judge Denny Chin rejected a copyright challenge Google’s practices of scanning books into digital format and presenting snippets of those scans in search results because the practices qualify as fair use. It’s an exciting and hard-fought victory…
Previewing Lexmark vs Static Control, A Rare Supreme Court Case On False Advertising (Forbes Cross-Post)
[Introductory note: Today the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the Lexmark v. Static Controls case. The transcript. Yesterday at Forbes, I posted a case preview. I’m sharing that here with you now; it’s still useful context-setting for the oral…