Specht v. Netscape–What Happened After the 2nd Circuit Remand?
By Eric Goldman (with help from Matt Goeden) The Specht v. Netscape 2nd Circuit opinion is a modern classic. The case articulates a clean (and, in my opinion, sensible) rule about online contract formation. I think it’s a great teaching…
Blizzard and Arizona Cartridge
By Mark McKenna There are several thoughtful posts on other blogs criticizing 8th and 9th Circuits’ recent decisions in Davidson & Associates (d/b/a Blizzard) v. Jung and Arizona Cartridge Remanufacturers Ass’n Inc. v. Lexmark International respectively. See here and here…
Downloading Software onto Home Computer May Be Trespass to Chattels–Sotelo v. DirectRevenue
Sotelo v. DirectRevenue LLC, No. 05 C 2562 (N.D. Ill. Aug. 29, 2005). It was pretty obvious when the complaint was filed in March that this lawsuit warranted careful scrutiny. This initial ruling reinforces that point. This ruling is interesting…
Illinois Court Enforces Dell’s Website Terms and Conditions of Sale
By John Ottaviani Dell Computers has contributed to the growing body of cases finding that “browse-wrap” contracts (terms and conditions posted on a website that do not necessarily require one to click on an “I agree” or “I accept” button)…
Blog Content Aggregation, RSS Feeds and Copyright Law
At Search Engine Strategies, we discussed the problem of aggregators and spammers taking blog content and using it to build aggregation pages (with AdSense links, naturally) that compete with the source blog for traffic. In some cases, these aggregation pages…
McDonald’s is Lovin’ It! — Contest Rules Upheld
By John Ottaviani James v. McDonald’s Corp., No. 04-2383 (7th Cir. 8/2/2005). This is not a technology case per se, unless scratch-off game cards that accompany french fry orders are considered “technology.” However, the contract principles that underlie this case…
Google Sued (Again!) for Overcharging Advertisers
CLRB Hanson Industries LLC v. Google, Inc., Case No. 1-05-CV-046409 (Cal. Superior Ct. complaint filed August 3, 2005). Advertisers, including radio personality Howard Stern, have filed a new class-action lawsuit against Google for overcharging in AdWords. This represents the third…
FTC Says No Undisclosed Adware? In the Matter of Advertising.com
In the Matter of Advertising.com, Inc., and John Ferber, Federal Trade Commission File No. 042-3196 (consent order announced Aug. 3, 2005). The FTC is signaling that it is sending a “message” with this case. The only problem? I’m not sure…
New Case Law Lists
Sorry for the catch-all posting, but I have uploaded several new resources to my website: A list of online contracts cases (emphasizing, in particular, online contract formation). A list of online service provider liability cases (copyright, trademark, 47 USC 230)….
Teaching Contract Drafting Presentation
I’m giving a talk tomorrow at Northwestern Law School about my experiences teaching a course called Contract Drafting. A preview of my notes from my talk.