Congress, Search Engines and China
By Eric Goldman OPEN LETTER TO THE MEMBERS OF THE CONGRESSIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS CAUCUS Dear Caucus members, Like you, I do not like the fact that search engines are helping China effectuate its repressive policies. However, I am confused why…
Orphan Works Report Released
By Eric Goldman The Copyright Office released its report on orphan works. It concludes: “* The orphan works problem is real. * The orphan works problem is elusive to quantify and describe comprehensively. * Some orphan works situations may be…
Allegedly Wrong VeRO Notice of Claimed Infringement Not Actionable–Dudnikov v. MGA Entertainment
By Eric Goldman Dudnikov v. MGA Entertainment, 2005 WL 3693829 (D. Colo. Aug. 17, 2005) [see the earlier Magistrate report] This one just showed up on my radar screen–not sure why it took so long to appear on Westlaw. However,…
Wasted Time as a Damage–Paglinawan v. Frey
By Eric Goldman Paglinawan v. Frey, No. 2:06-cv-00099-RSM (W.D. Wash. complaint filed Jan. 19, 2006). James Frey publishes the book “A Million Little Pieces.” It’s marketed as a non-fiction book, but some of it is actually fiction. Readers are upset…
DOJ Fishes for Search Records, and Google Fights Back–Gonzales v. Google
By Eric Goldman Gonzales v. Google, Inc., No. 5:06-mc-80006-JW (N.D. Cal. motion to compel filed Jan. 18, 2006) This event is a collateral consequence of Congress’ obsessive and relentless campaign against Internet pornography. In Summer 2004, the US Supreme Court…
Anti-Spyware Coalition Conference February 9
By Eric Goldman The Anti-Spyware Coalition has released the agenda and schedule for its Public Workshop: Defining the Problem, Developing Solutions on February 9 in Washington DC. If you’re interested in adware/spyware policy-making and can easily get to DC, this…
Anti-Marketing Laws and the Commercial Speech Doctrine
By Eric Goldman Prompted by the Supreme Court’s denial of cert in the White Buffalo case, Chris Hoofnagle of EPIC posted a nice rundown of some recent cases where anti-marketing laws survived a First Amendment challenge. He calls the 1999…
Copyrighting Sports Celebration Moves
By Eric Goldman Hank Abromson is a former student/research assistant of mine and an all-around mensch. He recently started a website called “AbromsonOnSportsLaw.com” where he is posting content on various sports law issues. Of particular interest is his belief that…
Second Anti-Adware Lawsuit Survives Motion to Dismiss–Kerrins v. Intermix Media
By Eric Goldman Kerrins v. Intermix Media, Inc., No. 2:05-cv-05408-RGK-SS (C.D. Cal. Jan. 10, 2006) Blogging the latest developments in anti-adware/anti-spyware lawsuits has become a full-time job, which is why I’ve fallen behind. I’m now aware of 5 anti-adware class…
New Year Brings New 47 USC 230 Defense Win–Whitney Information Network v. Verio
By Eric Goldman Whitney Information Network, Inc. v. Verio, Inc., 2006 WL 66724 (M.D. Fla. Jan. 11, 2006). 2005 was a great year for 47 USC 230 defense wins, so why not ring in 2006 with yet another? In this…