Building Owner Can’t Discover the Identity of Tenant Who Writes Bashing Yelp Review (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman Brompton Building, LLC v. Yelp!, Inc., 2013 IL App (1st) 120547-U (Ill. App. Ct. Jan. 31, 2013) Battles over online anonymity aren’t new, and we’ve made a lot of progress clarifying the legal rules. Usually, when a…
Before Graduated Response, There Was BSA’s “Define the Line” Program. What Happened to It? (Guest Blog Post)
By Guest Blogger Sruli Yellin [Eric’s introduction: with the imminent launch of the six strikes/graduated response program from the deceptively named Center for Copyright Information, I thought it might be worthwhile revisiting a prior effort by rightsowners to coopt Internet…
With Its Australian Court Victory, Google Moves Closer to Legitimizing Keyword Advertising Globally (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman Google’s ($GOOG) keyword advertising program, AdWords, has been subject to constant legal challenges for the past decade. After an initial period of legal uncertainty, AdWords’ legal fortunes recently have brightened in the United States and Europe. Earlier this…
Yelp Defeats Legal Challenge to Its User Review Filter (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman Demetriades v. Yelp, Case No.: BC484055 (Cal. Superior Ct. Jan. 25, 2013). Some supporting documents: * Yelp’s anti-SLAPP motion to strike * Demetriades’s opposition * Yelp’s reply Yelp ($YELP) uses an automated review filter to suppress some user reviews…
Conference Announcement: A 15 Year Retrospective of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, SCU, March 15
By Eric Goldman On March 15, 2013 at Santa Clara University, the High Tech Law Institute is hosting a conference entitled “A 15 Year Retrospective of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.” Our co-sponsors include the advisory committee to the Congressional…
Newspaper Not Liable for Moderated Online Reader Comments–Gains v. Romkey (Catch-Up Post)
By Eric Goldman Gains v. Romkey, 2012 IL App (3d) 110594-U (Ill. App. Ct. July 3, 2012) [Note: I’m terribly behind in blogging 47 USC 230 cases, and on top of that, this case just showed up in my Westlaw…
What Should We Do About Revenge Porn Sites Like Texxxan? (Forbes Cross-Post)
Periodically, a new controversy springs up about a website that encourages users to post anti-social or distasteful content. A few years ago it was sites like JuicyCampus or People’s Dirt that requested users to gossip about each other; followed by…
Google and Yahoo Defeat Trademark Lawsuit Over Keyword Ads–Clara Ison v. Google
By Eric Goldman Clara Ison v. Google, 1-10-CV-163032 (Cal. Superior Ct. January 22, 2013), The fourth amended complaint. The case docket. I try to track every trademark lawsuit regarding Google AdWords. Thus, I am embarrassed to admit that I just…
17 USC 512(f) Is Dead–Lenz v. Universal Music
By Eric Goldman Lenz v. Universal Music Corp., 2013 WL 271673 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 24, 2013). This is the long-running case involving a YouTube video of a baby dancing to a Prince song. Universal Music overzealously took the video down…
47 USC 230 Protects Online White Pages for Publishing Incorrect Phone Number–Nasser v. WhitePages
By Eric Goldman Nasser v. WhitePages, Inc., 2012 WL 6858438 (W.D. Va. magistrate report and recommendations December 20, 2012). The judge approved the magistrate report on January 14, 2013. [Note: Venkat represented WhitePages, but he had no role in preparing…