Do the FTC’s New Endorsement/Testimonial Rules Violate 47 USC 230?
By Eric Goldman In reading the FTC’s new rules on endorsements and testimonials in advertisements, I was struck by the FTC’s expansive vision of advertiser liability for third party-caused violations. In particular, the FTC apparently has made the same analytical…
Ripoff Report Rolls to Another Win–Intellect Art v. Milewski
By Eric Goldman Intellect Art Multimedia v. Milewski, 117024/08 (NY Sup. Ct. Sept. 15, 2009). For more background on the lawsuit, check out the companion blog. This case involves the “Swiss Finance Academy,” an expensive summer college program. A disgruntled…
Online Game Network Isn’t Company Town–Estavillo v. Sony
By Eric Goldman Estavillo v. Sony Computer Entertainment America, 2009 WL 3072887 (N.D. Cal. Sept. 22, 2009) Sony’s PS3 online network isn’t a company town or otherwise a state actor subject to First Amendment obligations. As a result, Judge Whyte…
1909 Copyright Act Conference Recap (five months late…)
By Eric Goldman [Note: I’m embarrassed to admit that it has taken me 5 months to write this recap. Normally at this late date I’d just give up, but for an event 100 years in the making, a 5 month…
Another Copyright Owner Doesn’t Like 512(c)…and Thinks an Anti-Copying Filter is Copyright Infringing–Scott v. Scribd
By Eric Goldman Scott v. Scribd, Inc., 4:09-cv-03039 (S.D. Tex. complaint filed Sept. 18, 2009) (linked to a copy of the complaint hosted on Scribd, of course!). If you’re interested, my page of Scribd uploads. I hadn’t planned to blog…
Person v. Google Appeal Rejected
By Eric Goldman Person v. Google, 2009 WL 3059092 (9th Cir. Sept. 24, 2009) In June 2007, I wrote: “Person is a lawyer and a former candidate for NY Attorney General. He sued Google for antitrust violations based on its…
Google Confirms That Keyword Metatags Don’t Matter
By Eric Goldman Few Internet technologies have horked cyberlaw as much as keyword metatags. Back in the 1990s, some search engines indexed keyword metatags, which encouraged some websites to stuff their keyword metatags as a way of gaming the rankings….
Israeli Judge Permits Unlicensed Sports Event Streaming—FAPL v. Ploni (Guest Blog Post)
By Yoram Lichtenstein, Adv. Case No. 1636/08, Motion 11646/08, The Football Association Premier League Ltd. V. Ploni and others [in Hebrew], Tel Aviv District court, Judge Agmon-Gonen, Sept. 2, 2009. [Eric’s introductory note: I have received several emailed references to…
Making Sense of the $32M Contributory Trademark Infringement Judgment Against a Web Host–Louis Vuitton v. Akanoc
By Eric Goldman Louis Vuitton Malletier SA v. Akanoc Solutions, Inc., 5:07-CV-03952 (N.D. Cal. jury verdict returned Aug. 28, 2009). My blog post of the December 2008 ruling on summary judgment motions in the case. Last month, a jury returned…
Veoh Gets Yet Another Terrific 512 Defense Win–UMG v. Veoh
By Eric Goldman UMG Recordings, Inc. v. Veoh Networks, Inc., 2:07-cv-05744-AHM-AJW (C.D. Cal. Sept. 11, 2009) What’s the difference between the market leader and an also-ran? When the also-ran wins its third big legal victory in a row, the first…