Auction Platform Protected by 47 USC 230 for a Rogue Auction–Simmons v. Danhauer
By Eric Goldman Simmons v. Danhauer & Associates, LLC, 2010 WL 4238856 (D. S.C. Oct. 21, 2010) Proxibid provides an online auction platform similar to eBay, except that Proxibid vets auctioneers before they can conduct an auction. Danhauer used Proxibid’s…
First Sale and Exhaustion Doctrines in IP Conference, Nov. 5, SCU
By Eric Goldman I’ve mentioned our First Sale and Exhaustion in IP conference before, but now it’s less than 3 weeks away. If you were thinking about coming, now is a good time to confirm your spot. As regular readers…
Class Action for Misleading Pop-up Ads Against McAfee Survives Motion to Dismiss — Ferrington v. McAfee
[Post by Venkat] Ferrington v. McAfee, Case No. 10-cv-01455-LHK (N.D. Cal. Oct. 5, 2010) There have been a few rulings involving class actions from customers alleging that an online merchant partnered with a third party who improperly piggybacked on to…
Washington Anti-Online Gambling Law Survives Dormant Commerce Clause Challenge — Rousso v. State
[Post by Venkat, with brief comments from Eric] Rousso v. Washington, Case No. 8040-1 (Wash. S.Ct. Sept. 23, 2010) Professor Goldman blogged recently about a case from the Washington state Supreme Court interpreting the state’s online gambling laws: “P2P Gambling…
Fifth Circuit Blesses Vistaprint’s Rewards Program Sign-Up Process — Bott v. Vistaprint USA Inc.
[Post by Venkat] Bott v. Vistaprint USA Inc., No. 09-20648 (5th Cir.; Aug. 23, 2010). I recently blogged about an online rewards program class action which survived a motion to dismiss. (In re: Easysaver Rewards Litigation: “Internet Rewards Program Class…
Online Ticket Resellers Get Significant 47 USC 230 Win–Milgram v. Orbitz
By Eric Goldman Milgram v. Orbitz Worldwide, LLC, ESX-C-142-09 (N.J. Super. Ct. Aug. 26, 2010) Introduction It’s been a relatively quiet year for 47 USC 230, in a good way. We’ve had a few minor aberrational rulings (Subway v. Quiznos,…
P2P Gambling Site is Illegal Bookmaker–Betcha v. Washington
By Eric Goldman Internet Community & Entertainment Corp. v. Washington State Gambling Commission, 82845-8 (Wash. Sup. Ct. Sept. 2, 2010) Betcha is one of those too-clever-by-half dot com ideas that practically beg VCs to roll the dice. Rather than allow…
Internet Rewards Program Class Action Survives Initial Motion to Dismiss — In re Easysaver Rewards
[Post by Venkat] In re: Easysaver Rewards Litigation (S.D. Cal.) (Aug. 13, 2010) Plaintiffs brought a class action lawsuit against Provide-Commerce (which operated Pro.Flowers.com). The lawsuit alleged that effecting transactions on the Proflowers website resulted in plaintiffs being unwittingly enrolled…
The Problems With Google House Ads
By Eric Goldman [Note: This blog post has taken me 7 months to write, so I’m glad to be sharing it finally. I am cross-posting it to Search Engine Land.] Introduction Many publishers run “house ads” to self-promote their own…
“Electronically Printed” Does not Include Automated Merchant Email — Shlahtichman v. 1-800 Contacts
[Post by Venkat] Shlahtichman v. 1-800 Contacts, Inc., Case No. 09-4073 (7th Cir.; Aug. 10, 2010) The Seventh Circuit recently concluded that the words “electronically printed,” as used in the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, does not…