Barrett on Internet Trademark Use
By Eric Goldman Margreth Barrett, a law professor at UC Hastings, has published Internet Trademark Suits and the Demise of “Trademark Use,” 39 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 371 (2006). The article makes a persuasive argument that the trademark use doctrine…
More on Perfect 10 v. Google
By John Ottaviani Eric will undoubtedly have more to say, but here are my immediate thoughts on this case. Leave it to the porn industry to make copyright law on the Internet. Perfect 10 alleges that Google (and, in a…
Perfect 10 Wins Injunction Against Google
By Eric Goldman Perfect 10 v. Google, Inc., CV 04-9484 AMH (C.D. Cal. Feb. 17, 2006) A major new ruling in the running battle over search engines and copyrights–this time concluding that Google’s creation and display of thumbnail images may…
Yahoo Not Civilly Liable for User-Disseminated Child Porn–Doe v. Bates
By Eric Goldman Doe v. Bates, No. 5:05CV91 (E.D. Tex. Jan. 18, 2006) Introduction The facts of this case are virtually identical to the Doe v. AOL case from the late 1990s. In this case, Yahoo provided email and web…
Craigslist Sued for Fair Housing Act Violation–Chicago Lawyers Committee v. Craigslist
By Eric Goldman Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Inc. v. Craigslist, Inc., Case No. 06C-0657 (N.D. Ill. complaint filed Feb. 3, 2006) Craigslist, the free online classified site, has been sued by a group of lawyers for…
Checking Your Spamming Burdens at the Dormant Commerce Clause/Jurisdiction Doors?
An update on the disjointed state of state spam law cases By Ethan Ackerman Despite the passage of the federal CAN-SPAM Act in 2003, state spam laws continue to be enforced by states, and it appears private litigation under them…
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…
Web Term Paper Lawsuit Settles
By Eric Goldman In September, I blogged about Macellari v. Carroll. In that case, a student sued a website that allegedly offered her term paper for sale. The case has settled under a confidentiality cloak (registration required). However, a defendant…
47 USC 230 Year-in-Review (and Landry-Bell v. Various, Another Defense Win)
By Eric Goldman Landry-Bell v. Various December was a busy month for 47 USC 230 cases (with at least 4 substantive rulings plus 1 procedural ruling). The latest case to emerge from the year-end rush is Landry-Bell v. Various, Inc.,…
RipoffReport.com Loses 47 USC 230 Motion to Dismiss–Hy Cite v. badbusinessbureau.com
By Eric Goldman Hy Cite Corp. v. badbusinessbureau.com, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38082 (D. Ariz. Dec. 27, 2005) This is the third 47 USC 230 ruling involving badbusinessbureau.com/RipoffReport.com. The first two were: * MCW, Inc. v. Badbusinessbureau.com, L.L.C., 2004 WL…