FTC Busts Check-Issuing Website for Unfair Practices–FTC v. Qchex
By Eric Goldman Federal Trade Commission v. Neovi, Inc., 09-55093 (9th Cir. May 14, 2010) Qchex allowed registered users to create and send checks via a website. Initially, users could submit bank account information and payee information, and Qchex would…
Internet Access Provider & Blocklist Publishers Denied 230(c)(2) Immunity for Anti-Spam Efforts
By Eric Goldman Smith v. Trusted Universal Standards in Electronic Transactions, Inc., 2010 WL 1799456 (D.N.J. May 4, 2010) It’s usually a drag to read opinions in pro se lawsuits. Most of the time, the litigant gets flattened mercilessly. Occasionally,…
Brazil’s Proposed Internet Regulation–an Update (That’s Actually Good News) (Guest Blog Post)
by Guest Blogger Marcel Leonardi Some fantastic news: in response to the waves of criticism toward the proposed notice and takedown regime that might have curbed online speech in Brazil – see my prior blog post – the Brazilian Ministry…
Troubling Ruling About 47 USC 230 and Moderators–Cornelius v. DeLuca
By Eric Goldman Cornelius v. DeLuca, 2010 WL 1709928 (D. Idaho April 26, 2010) I blogged about this case last year. In that post, I described the situation: DeLuca runs bodybuilding.com, a fitness website and online retailer. The plaintiffs sell…
Proposed Internet Regulation in Brazil Might Curb Online Speech (Guest Blog Post)
by Guest Blogger Marcel Leonardi [Marcel Leonardi is an attorney in São Paulo, Brazil, and Professor of Law at FGV-SP. He was a Google Policy Fellow in 2009, working with the international team at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. He has…
Website Gets 230 Immunity Despite Claim of Site Content Accuracy–Milo v. Martin
By Eric Goldman Milo v. Martin, 2010 WL 1708895 (Tex. App. Ct. April 29, 2010) This case involves allegedly defamatory “guestbook” messages posted by unknown users to a website entitled “The Watchdog.” Framed like that, the precedent says the website…
Online Defamation Action Can Have Only One Defendant–Novins v. Cannon
By Eric Goldman Novins v. Cannon, 2010 WL 1688695 (D. N.J. April 27, 2010). The CMLP page on Novins’ initial demand letter. The CMLP page on the lawsuit. An aborted lawsuit blog putatively by Novins. This is a defamation action…
“Mistake of Age” Defense When a Sexual Abuse Victim Inflated Her Age on MySpace
By Eric Goldman I continue to see a troubling number of cases in Westlaw that involve an overaged male and underaged female having illegal sex, in some case facilitated by a social networking site (especially MySpace). In the past few…
230 Protects Newspaper from Liability for Reader Comments–Collins v. Purdue
By Eric Goldman Collins v. Purdue University, 2010 WL 1250916 (N.D. Ind. March 24, 2010) The plaintiff, Timothy J. Collins, III, is a Purdue student. The defendant in this ruling is Federated Publications, which publishes a Lafayette, Indiana daily newspaper,…
March 2010 Quick Links
By Eric Goldman Internet Exceptionalism * Stern v. Sony Corp., CV 09-7710 PA (C.D. Cal. Feb. 8 2010) “to the extent Plaintiff is suing Sony as a manufacturer of video games, and the provider of online services, Sony is not…