Alaska Anti-Adware Law Finally Sent to Governor
BNA reports (BNA subscription required) that the anti-adware law passed by the Alaska legislature back in May was sent to the governor August 19. The article intimates that the hold-up was due to some behind-the-scenes lobbying by Google, Yahoo and…
What 50 Cent Really Said–Use the Term “50” and You’ll Hear From My Lawyer
Jackson v. Gary Barbera Enterprises, Inc. (E.D. Pa. complaint filed Aug. 2005). A car dealer in Philadelphia runs an advertisement for Dodge Magnums. Included is a picture of the popular rapper 50 Cent and the phrase “Just Like 50 Says.”…
NYT on College Rebrandings
The NY Times runs an interesting article about colleges rebranding themselves–which, in some cases, has dramatically improved their applicant metrics or other success metrics. For example, Arcadia University (formerly Beaver College–good choice to change the name!) doubled its applications. And…
GEICO v. Google Opinion (Finally) Issued
Government Employees Insurance Co. v. Google, Inc., No. 1:04cv507 (E.D. Va. Aug. 8, 2005). Overview On December 15, 2004, Judge Brinkema made an oral ruling in this case and promised to produce a written opinion in “a brief amount of…
Search Tidbits from ABA Annual Meeting
At the ABA Annual Meeting, I was on a panel with Rose Hagan of Google and Allison McDade of Dell. A couple of tidbits from the presentations that caught my attention: 1) Rose said that Google has now been sued…
How Would You Advertise a Strip Club?
The Century Lounge is a strip club located on Century Boulevard in LA right at the 405 freeway. Historically, it has advertised itself with a sign that says “Live Nude Nude Nudes” in earth toned psychedelia letters. Just about everyone…
Keyword Disputes Presentation
Tomorrow I’m speaking at the ABA Annual Meeting about trademark law and keyword disputes. I’ve prepared slides discussing the latest state of the law regarding keyword-triggering of ads by both search engines and adware.
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)….
Surowiecki on the Decline of Brands
Catching up on back reading, I came across James Surowiecki’s Wired article The Decline of Brands from Nov. 2004. If you haven’t read it, I recommend the article highly–it’s provocative and interesting. Surowiecki argues that consumers’ brand loyalty has declined…
Ripoffreport.com Wins 47 USC 230 Case
Whitney Information Network, Inc. v. Xcentric Ventures, LLC, 2005 WL 1677256 (M.D. Fla. Jul 14, 2005). The plaintiff runs real estate training programs. The defendants run ripoffreport.com and ripoffrevenge.com where consumers can submit complaints about businesses. The consumers write the…