Judge Refuses to Block Seattle’s Yellow Pages Opt-out Law — Dex Media v. Seattle
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Dex Media West, Inc. v. City of Seattle, C10-1857JLR (W.D. Wash.; May 8, 2011) I blogged a ways back about Seattle’s yellow pages opt-out law and a First Amendment challenge brought by yellow pages companies. I…
Google Wins Lawsuit Over Unhappy Google Search Appliance Installation–Market America v. Google
By Eric Goldman Market America, Inc. v. Google, Inc., 2011 WL 1485616 (D. Del. April 19, 2011) I blogged about this case last year. Market America retained Google and its system integrator LTech to install a Google Search Appliance to…
Bulk Emailers (Mostly) Lose Three 47 USC 230(c)(2) Rulings–Holomaxx v. Microsoft/Yahoo & Smith v. TRUSTe
By Eric Goldman I’ve been so behind that it’s taken me until now to blog these cases from last month. All three opinions involve the same basic fact pattern: a bulk emailer gets blocked by an email service provider (relying…
Judge Recognizes Loss of Value to PII as Basis of Standing for Data Breach Plaintiff — Claridge v. RockYou
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with comments from Eric] Claridge v. RockYou, 2011 WL 1361588 (N.D. Cal.; Apr. 11, 2011) RockYou is a developer and publisher of applications for use with Facebook, MySpace, hi5, and Bebo. RockYou’s applications allow users to…
Trademark Owner Gets Injunction Against Keyword Ad Campaign That Generated No Sales for the Advertiser
By Eric Goldman InternetShopsInc.com v. Six C Consulting, Inc., 2011 WL 1113445 (N.D. Ga. March 24, 2011) [I know the headline sounds like an April Fools joke, but no April Fools here…although, as I will show, this case definitely involved…
Groupon Hit With Two Lanham Act Lawsuits, and One Takes Google Along for the Ride
By Eric Goldman Groupion, LLC v. Groupon, Inc., 3:11-cv-00870-EMC (N.D. Cal. complaint filed Feb. 24, 2011) San Francisco Comprehensive Tours, LLC v. Groupon, Inc., CV-1300 (N.D. Cal. complaint filed March 17, 2011) __________ A company doesn’t reach a purported $6B…
Another Advertiser Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Google–Woods v. Google
By Eric Goldman Woods v. Google Inc., 5:11-cv-01263-HRL (N.D. Cal. complaint filed March 15, 2011) Since Google settled its click fraud lawsuits in 2006 and the CLRB Hanson case in 2009, it’s been a little quiet on the advertiser-vs.-Google class…
Yelp Beats “Implied Extortion”/”Pay-to-Play” Lawsuit in Round #1–Levitt v. Yelp
By Eric Goldman Levitt v. Yelp, 3:10-cv-01321-MHP (N.D. Cal. Mar. 22, 2011). See the motion to dismiss, the opposition and the reply. This ruling deals with the Second Amended Complaint. Levitt’s initial complaint. Cats & Dogs Animal Hospital’s first amended…
Employee’s Twitter and Facebook Impersonation Claims Against Employer Move Forward — Maremont v. Fredman Design Group
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Maremont v. Susan Fredman Design Group, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 26441 (N.D. Ill.; March 15, 2011) As alleged in the complaint, Fredman is a prominent interior designer who runs the Susan Fredman Design Group (SFDG). SFDG…
FTC Online Endorsement Guidelines Strike Again – FTC Dings Legacy Learning Over Allegedly Misleading Affiliate Reviews
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with some comments by Eric] In re Legacy Learning Systems, Inc., FTC File No. 102 3055 [FTC Release] [Complaint (pdf)] An FTC press release notes that the FTC settled with Legacy Learning over allegations that Legacy…