TripAdvisor’s “Dirtiest Hotels” List Isn’t Defamatory—Seaton v. TripAdvisor
Seaton v. TripAdvisor LLC, 2013 WL 4525870 (6th Cir. Aug. 28, 2013) TripAdvisor published a list of the “Dirtiest Hotels” based on users’ rankings, including some unflattering quotes from users’ reviews. One of the listed hotels sued TripAdvisor for defamation…
App Stores Aren’t Liable For Third Party Apps–Evans v. HP (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman Evans v. Hewlett-Packard Co., 2013 WL 4426359 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 15, 2013) Due to the growing importance of mobile devices, app stores are among the most powerful intermediaries in the Internet ecosystem. With great power comes great…
Blasting Your Landlord Online? Pick Your Words Wisely (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman Bently Reserve L.P. v. Papaliolios, 2013 WL 3949029 (Cal. App. Ct. July 30, 2013) Few things in life are more irritating than a bad landlord. Typically tenants are trapped by their lease, so they are powerless to…
Facebook Posting That Someone Has Herpes Is Criminal Harassment–Pennsylvania v. Cox
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with a comment by Eric] Commonwealth v. Cox, 2013 PA Super 221 (Aug 2, 2013) [pdf] What is wrong with people? What were you thinking here, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania? Lindsey Marie Cox (age 18) posted the…
Recap of Stanford E-Commerce Conference Panel on Takedown Notices
By Eric Goldman Last month, I attended Stanford Law School’s annual E-commerce Law Conference, one of my favorite conferences of the year because of its subject material and the chance to hang out with so many friends. This year, the…
Dentist’s Defamation Lawsuit Against Yelp Preempted by Section 230–Braverman v. Yelp
By Eric Goldman Braverman v. Yelp, Inc., 2013 NY Slip Op 31407 (NY Sup. Ct June 28, 2013) Mal Braverman is a Manhattan dentist. He sued Yelp for defamation based on two allegedly defamatory user posts. I’m not sure which…
Employee Can’t Be Fired When His Login Credentials Are Used on Shared Computer to Access Porn — DOH v. Litten
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] West Virginia Department of Transportation v. Litten, 2013 WL 2662712 (W. Va. Ct. App. June 5, 2013) [pdf] Litten worked as a mechanic for the West Virginia Dept of Highway. He was fired for accessing porn…
Essay Explaining Why 47 USC 230 Should Immunize State Crimes
By Eric Goldman You’ve probably already heard that at the Summer 2013 NAAG meeting in Boston, some State Attorneys General indicated they will ask Congress to exclude state criminal prosecutions from the 47 USC 230 immunity. Although many folks believe…
Why Craigslist’s ‘Casual Encounters’ Is A Bad Spot To Catch Predators (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman Venson Villapando had, in the words of his psychologist, a “normal” heterosexual interest in “adolescent and adult females.” In 2009, he logged into Craigslist’s “casual encounters” section and responded to an ad with the headline “looking to get…
H1 2013 Quick Links, Part 4 (Miscellaneous)
By Eric Goldman and Jake McGowan CFAA/Trespass * My colleague Kyle Graham traces the early history of California Penal Code Sec. 502. * Andrew Sellars on the Aaron Schwartz prosecution and Rep. Lofgren’s proposed Aaron’s Law. Related blog post. Consumer Protection * Interesting…