Roommates.com Infects the Tenth Circuit–FTC v. Accusearch

By Eric Goldman F.T.C. v. Accusearch Inc., 2009 WL 1846344 (10th Cir. June 29, 2009). My blog post on the district court opinion. Introduction June has been an active month for 230 jurisprudence. Cases this month include Doe IX v….

Sixth Lawsuit Filed Over Google AdWords, Plus an Assault on Google’s Organic Search Results–Ascentive v. Google

By Eric Goldman Ascentive, LLC v. Google, Inc., 2:09-cv-02871-JS (E.D. Pa. complaint filed June 25, 2009) Guess who got sued again? Google now has 6 pending lawsuits challenging its AdWords service. The previous five are: * Rescuecom v. Google *…

Anti-Spyware Company Protected by 47 USC 230(c)(2)–Zango v. Kaspersky

By Eric Goldman Zango, Inc. v. Kaspersky Lab, Inc., 2009 WL 1796746 (9th Cir. June 25, 2009) The case involves Kaspersky, an anti-spyware software vendor, and Zango, the former purveyor of adware (I say “former” because Zango shut down a…

47 USC 230 and Consumer Protection Talk Notes

By Eric Goldman Last week I made a very short presentation on 47 USC 230 and consumer protection at the ABA Antitrust Section’s Consumer Protection Conference. (I was scheduled for 6 minutes, but I think I took about 8). My…

Ninth Circuit Helpfully Amends Barnes v. Yahoo Opinion

By Eric Goldman Barnes v. Yahoo, Inc., 05-36189 (9th Cir. Amended Opinion June 22, 2009) The Ninth Circuit has issued an amended opinion in last month’s Barnes v. Yahoo opinion. The amended opinion makes two changes to the initial opinion,…

47 USC 230 Can Support 12b6 Motion to Dismiss-Gibson v. Craigslist

By Eric Goldman Gibson v. Craigslist, 2009 WL 1704355 (SDNY June 15, 2009). The CMLP page. The Justia page. In my lengthy deconstruction of the Barnes v. Yahoo case, I criticized the Ninth Circuit for concluding that 47 USC 230…

Twitter, Email and Brand Engagement

By Eric Goldman Last week, in an interview with a reporter, I extolled the virtues of Twitter as a tool for brands to keep in touch with and engage their customers. The reporter responded by asking why brands would choose…

Google Sued Again for Trademark Infringement–Soaring Helmet v. Leatherup.com

By Eric Goldman Soaring Helmet Corp. v. Bill Me Inc., 2:2009cv00789 (W.D. Wash. complaint filed June 9, 2009). The Justia page. It’s clearly open season on trademark infringement lawsuits against Google. The latest is a lawsuit by Soaring Helmet, manufacturers…

Stop Saying “We Can Amend This Agreement Whenever We Want”!–Harris v. Blockbuster

By Eric Goldman Harris v. Blockbuster Inc., 2009 WL 1011732 (N.D. Tex. April 15, 2009). The Justia page. [I’ve been sitting on this case for a couple of months, but it’s such an important case that it still deserves a…

May 2009 Quick Links Part 2

By Eric Goldman Blogs and Boards * WSJ: Bloggers, Beware: What You Write Can Get You Sued * j2 Global Communications v. Zilker Ventures, CV 08-07470 SJO (AJWx) (C.D. Cal. April 22, 2009). A consumer review website can putatively qualify…