Erika Rottenberg Talk Recap

By Eric Goldman Yesterday, in celebration of International Data Privacy Day, Santa Clara University hosted Erika Rottenberg, LinkedIn’s GC, for a lunchtime talk. Despite putting the event together at the last minute, we had a strong turnout of about 90…

Web Host Faces Potential Contributory Trademark Liability–Louis Vuitton v. Akanoc

By Eric Goldman Louis Vuitton Malletier, S.A. v. Akanoc Solutions, Inc., C 07-03952 JW (N.D. Cal. Dec. 23, 2008) This is one of countless anti-counterfeiting actions by luxury brands against allegedly infringing websites—but the twist is that the brand owner…

Decay Rates of Committed Online Community Members–an Epinions Case Study

By Eric Goldman Building on several previous blog posts, I am writing up a extended discourse explaining why Wikipedia will fail. A key part of my argument is that committed Wikipedians will turn over faster than they can be replaced….

The [Non]enforceability of Privacy Promises–Pinero v. Jackson Hewitt

A recent court case reiterates that privacy policies aren’t the be-all, end-all panacea for protecting online privacy. By Ethan Ackerman One of the main arguments against a federal online privacy law has been that website privacy policies were a self-regulatory…

Data Privacy Day at SCU Jan. 28: Erika Rottenberg, LinkedIn GC

By Eric Goldman Please join us for this event being held in conjunction with the Data Privacy Day. Free admission and no RSVP required. Erika is a long-time colleague (dating back to our Cooley Godward days) and I’m very interested…

Brand Spillovers Article Now Available

By Eric Goldman I have finally posted my article, Brand Spillovers, to SSRN. It will be published in the Harvard Journal of Law & Technology later this year. I have blogged about this project several times over the past 4…

American Airlines v. Yahoo Venue Transfer Denied

By Eric Goldman American Airlines, Inc. v. Yahoo!, Inc., 4:08-CV-626-A (N.D. Tex. Jan. 16, 2009) The procedural battles over American Airlines’ lawsuit against Yahoo for selling trademarked keywords continue. You may recall that American Airlines sued Yahoo in its home…

Kentucky Reverses Seizure of 141 Gambling-Related Domain Names

By Eric Goldman Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association v. Wingate ex rel Kentucky, 08-CI-01409 (Ky. Ct. App. Jan. 20, 2009) We see state enforcement agencies freak out about the Internet all the time, so I have a hard time…

Outdated Whois Information Might Lead to False Light Tort–Meyerkord v. Zipatoni

By Eric Goldman Meyerkord v. The Zipatoni Co., 2008 WL 5455718 (Mo. App. Ct. Dec. 23, 2008) It’s a late entry, but this opinion may be a dark horse candidate for the most bizarre case of 2008. Meyerkord was a…

Rip-off Report Rolls to Another Win–GW Equity v. Xcentric Ventures

By Eric Goldman GW Equity LLC v. Xcentric Ventures LLC, 2009 WL 62173 (N.D.Tex. Jan. 9, 2009) I previously blogged about this case in October when the magistrate judge issued his report and recommendations finding that Rip-off Report was immune…