October 2009 Quick Links
By Eric Goldman Just a reminder that I am posting most of these types of links exclusively to my Twitter feed. * Tricome v. eBay, Inc., 2009 WL 3365873 (E.D.Pa. Oct 19, 2009). Court upholds eBay user agreement’s venue selection…
Internet Obscenity Conviction Requires Assessment of National Community Standards–US v. Kilbride
By Eric Goldman U.S. v. Kilbride, 2009 WL 3448360 (9th Cir. Oct. 28, 2009) Jeffrey Kilbride and James Schaffer were porn spammers, operating through Ganymede Marketing, a Mauritian company. I previously blogged on their case in 2007. Their spam failed…
Craigslist Isn’t Liable for Erotic Services Ads–Dart v. Craigslist
By Eric Goldman Dart v. Craigslist, Inc., 09 C 1385 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 20, 2009) Yesterday, Judge John F. Grady of the Northern District of Illinois federal court dismissed Cook County Sheriff Dart’s lawsuit against Craigslist for user-posted advertisements in…
Q3 2009 Quick Links, Part 1
By Eric Goldman My system of managing news items that don’t warrant a full blog post but can’t fit into a 140 character Twitter post has broken down. So, I’m belatedly catching up on my backlog of things that caught…
Sex Predator Stung By Undercover Officer Who Self-Reported 3 Different Ages–US v. Haile
By Eric Goldman US v. Haile, 2009 WL 3163556 (W.D. Ky. Sept. 29, 2009) Let me start out by stating the obvious: sexual predation of minors is an unacceptable crime. I remain deeply troubled by how many Westlaw cases report…
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…
Employer Isn’t Liable for Employee Misuse of the Internet–Maypark v. Securitas
By Eric Goldman Maypark v. Securitas Security Services USA, Inc., 2009 WL 2750994 (Wis. App. Ct. Sept. 1, 2009) As part of my efforts to keep up with new cyberlaw developments, I read a lot of cases involving yucky facts….
Lori Drew Criminal Case Ends With a Whimper
By Eric Goldman United States v. Drew, 2009 WL 2872855 (C.D. Cal. Aug. 28, 2009) Almost 2 months ago, the judge presiding over the Lori Drew trial orally announced that he intended to rule in favor of Drew, but it…
Private High School Not Liable for Cyberbullying–DC v. Harvard-Westlake
By Eric Goldman D.C. v. Harvard-Westlake School, 2009 WL 2500343 (Cal. App. Ct. Aug. 14, 2009) Harvard-Westlake is a highly-regarded private school in the Los Angeles basin with an impressive alumni roster and a lot of very affluent parents. I’ve…