Utah Quietly Killing the Trademark Protection Act [UPDATED]
By Eric Goldman [See update below] We’re coming up on the one year anniversary of the Utah Trademark Protection Act, Utah’s effort to kill/tax keyword advertising. It looks like the law may not survive until its first birthday, as the…
Feb. 2008 Quick Links
By Eric Goldman Advertising * BusinessWeek: Monetizing social networking sites isn’t as easy as everyone had hoped, clickthrough rates are through the floor (0.04%!), and ad proliferation on the sites is driving users away. * Wilbur, Kenneth C. and Zhu,…
Jan. 2008 Quick Links (Non-IP Edition)
By Eric Goldman 47 USC 230 * Doe v. SexSearch, the case absolving a website for age verification of its users, has been appealed. * The Supreme Court denied cert in Parker v. Google. See 2008 WL 114262. * NYT…
Wikipedia Revisited: the Wikipedia Community’s Xenophobia
By Eric Goldman Regular blog readers know that I have mixed emotions about Wikipedia. On the plus side: * Wikipedia is a terrific and fascinating resource that I use multiple times a day (Wikipedia remains the #2 visited site in…
Web 2.0 Marketing and the Law
By Eric Goldman Today I participated in the Pike & Fischer teleconference on Web 2.0 legal issues (” Best Practices for Businesses Exploring…Exploiting…and Expanding in Web 2.0″). Among other things, I was asked, in 8 minutes or less, to provide…
December 2007 Quick Links
By Eric Goldman Marketing * I’ve blogged about Various, which operates AdultFriendFinder.com, before. They made the news recently in two ways. First, they sold to Penthouse for half-a-billion dollars. Second, they settled with the FTC for “pelting” users with unwanted…
Avvo Wins Big in Ratings Lawsuit–Browne v. Avvo
By Eric Goldman Browne v. Avvo, C07-0920RSL (W.D. Wash. motion to dismiss granted Dec. 18, 2007) The lawsuit against Avvo for lawyer ratings has been dismissed without leave to amend. This is a big win for Avvo. The ruling turns…
Oct.-Nov. 2007 Quick Links, Part 2
By Eric Goldman Marketing/Branding * To stimulate demand for its services, the British postal service is pointing out that snail mail is a good way to use olfactory marketing. Try to keep up with THAT, spammers! But doesn’t this give…
Internet Doctor Gets Extra Jail Time for Using Website–US v. Hanny
By Eric Goldman U.S. v. Hanny, 2007 WL 4322265 (8th Cir. Dec. 12, 2007) Given its blatant illegality, I’m a little surprised that we don’t hear more about busts of companies and individuals selling prescription drugs over the Internet. I…
Google Resists Subpoena for Keyword Ad Purchases–Connor Sport Court v. Google
By Eric Goldman Connor Sport Court International, Inc. v. Google Inc., CV-06-3066 PHX JAT // CV 07-80252 (N.D. Cal. motion to compel filed Oct. 31, 2007) This summer, I reported on trademark litigation between Connor Sport Court and Rhino Court….