Group Text Services Grapple with TCPA Class Actions
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Pimental v. Google Inc., No. 11-2585 (N.D. Cal.; Mar. 2, 2012) Plaintiffs sued Google (and Slide), asserting that text messages sent via the “Disco” service offered by Google violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. As I…
California Appeals Court Says Emails That Don’t Identify Sender Violate State Spam Statute – Balsam v. Trancos
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Balsam v. Trancos, Inc., 2012 WL 593703 (Ca. Ct. App.; Feb. 24, 2012) It seemed like most emailers and anti-spam activists have moved on from worrying about spam email to other things, such as social networks,…
Facebook Gets Decisive Win Against Pseudo-Competitor Power Ventures — Facebook v. Power Ventures
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani, with comments from Eric] Facebook, Inc. v. Power Ventures, Inc., et al., C 08-05780 JW (N.D. Cal.; Feb. 16, 2012) The long-running dispute between Facebook and Power Ventures came to a close last week, with Judge…
Nov.-Dec. 2011 Quick Links, Part 3
By Eric Goldman Marketing and Advertising * Facebook is putting Sponsored Stories in user newsfeeds. Naturally, they will make the ad label almost invisible. Yet another reason to hate Facebook, and what a desperate act of financial overreaching to goose…
Old School Spam Plaintiff Rebuffed in the Ninth Circuit
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Gordon v. BMG Columbia House, 10-35180 (9th Cir. Nov. 28, 2011) Gordon v. Inviva, 10-35283 (9th Cir. Nov. 28, 2011) Gordon v. Commonwealth Mktg. Group, 10-35030 (9th Cir. Nov. 28, 2011) James Gordon has generated more…
Text Spam Lawsuit Against Citibank Moves Forward Despite Vague Allegations of Consent — Ryabyshchuk v. Citibank
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Ryabyshchuk v. Citibank, 11-cv-1236 – IEG (S.D. Cal.; Nov. 28, 2011) Plaintiff alleged that he contacted Citibank and inquired about a credit card. Later that day, he alleged he received the following unsolicited text from Citibank:…
Court Dismisses Lawsuit Under Michigan Spam Statute Based on Preemption and Lack of Standing — Hafke v. Rossdale Group, LLC
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Hafke v. Rossdale Group, LLC, 11-cv-220 (W.D. Mich.; Oct. 7, 2011) Hafke described himself as someone who is “attempting to stop Spam in Michigan.” He sued Rossdale, a continuing legal education provider, complaining about six unsolicited…
Spam Claims Covered by Contract’s Indemnity Clause–Commonwealth Marketing Group v. IMG Assocs.
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Commonwealth Mktg. Group v. IMG Assocs., 08-5074 (W.D. Wash. Sept. 28, 2011) Commonwealth Marketing asserted claims for indemnification against IMG Associates, for underlying claims brought by prolific spam plaintiff James Gordon. Among other cases, Gordon is…
In Facebook’s Lawsuit Against Alleged Spammer, Court Denies MaxBounty’s Motion to Dismiss
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Facebook v. MaxBounty, 10-Cv-04712 (N.D. Cal. Sept 14, 2011) Facebook is suing MaxBounty for allegedly running an affiliate network which dupes people into fanning Facebook pages, promoting the page to their friends, and signing up for…