Talk Slides on Section 230, Anti-SLAPP Laws and Housing Anti-Discrimination

By Eric Goldman On Friday I presented at the California State Bar’s Fifth Annual Fair Housing and Public Accommodations Symposium. My topic was to discuss how Roommates.com, Section 230 and anti-SLAPP laws restrict the ability of housing anti-discrimination to sue…

Viacom Loses Again–Viacom v. YouTube

By Eric Goldman Viacom International Inc. v. YouTube Inc., 2013 WL 1689071 (S.D.N.Y April 18, 2013) Persistence is a virtue, but stubbornness is a sin. I’m pretty sure Viacom has sinned a lot in its six years of litigation against…

Cynthia Moreno Guest Lecture to My Internet Law Course

By Eric Goldman Internet Law is blessed with some fantastic teaching cases, including the modern classic, Moreno v. Hanford Sentinel. Read the Ode to Coalinga that started it all. Cynthia works in Sacramento–about 2 hours from SCU–so in November 2012…

Why You’ll Soon Be Paying Sales Taxes on All of Your Internet Purchases–Amazon v. NY Taxation Department (Forbes Cross-Post)

By Eric Goldman In the 1992 case Quill v. North Dakota, the U.S. Supreme Court said an out-of-state retailer can’t be obligated to collect sales taxes from buyers in states where the retailer lacks a physical presence.  In those situations,…

Designing Optimal Immunities and Safe Harbors (Forbes Cross-Post)

By Eric Goldman [Note: this is one of those posts that languished in the queue for a few years. Depending on your response, I may decide to turn it into a lengthier academic paper. Please send me your thoughts!] You…

Another 512(f) Claim Fails–Tuteur v. Crosley-Corcoran

By Eric Goldman Tuteur v. Crosley-Corcoran, 2013 WL 1450930 (D. Mass. April 10, 2013). The complaint (page 5 shows the photo in question). We don’t see that many 17 USC 512(f) lawsuits over bogus copyright takedown noties, and we see…

Competitive Keyword Advertising Lawsuit Survives Motion to Dismiss–Elcometer v. TCQ-USA

By Eric Goldman Elcometer, Inc. v. TQC-USA, Inc., 2013 WL 1433388 (E.D. Mich. April 9, 2013) There are so many competitive keyword advertising lawsuits that I can’t track them systematically, but I’ll still blog them when I see them. The…

New Entrepreneur’s Law Clinic and Director Announced at Santa Clara University School of Law [SCU Press Release]

By Eric Goldman [This is a project I’ve been working on for years, so I’m delighted to finally share the news. The press release issued by the school this morning:] New Entrepreneur’s Law Clinic and Director Announced at Santa Clara…

Google Immunized for Its Search Results–Mmubango v. Google (Catch-up Post)

By Eric Goldman Mmubango v. Google, Inc., 2013 WL 664231 (E.D. Pa. February 22, 2013). The initial complaint. This is one of the many bogus pro se lawsuits over Google search results. Like the others, it goes nowhere (though the…

A Judge Hopes Mark Zuckerberg Enjoys His Money Because “He’s Going to Hurt a Lot of People”–US v. Culver

By Eric Goldman United States v. Laura Culver, 2013 WL 1110647 (2nd Cir. March 19, 2013) This case involves a horrible crime of child pornography involving an 8 year old. For more background, see the DOJ press release and the…

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