Fourth Circuit: Email, ECF, and Domain Name Woes do not Excuse Failure to Respond to Summary Judgment Motion — Robinson v. Wix Filtration

[Post by Venkat] Robinson v. Wix Filtration Corp. LLC, 4th Cir. (Mar. 26, 2010) [scribd] The Fourth Circuit recently held that the district court properly granted summary judgment in favor of a defendant, and rejected plaintiff’s argument that counsel’s failure…

Facebook Preliminarily Wins Copyright Lawsuit over Third Party App–Miller v. Facebook

By Eric Goldman Miller v. Facebook, Inc., 2010 WL 1292708 (N.D. Cal. March 31, 2010) Miller developed a videogame called Boomshine. He is upset that Yeo made an allegedly infringing knockoff variation of the game, called ChainRxn, and distributed the…

230 Protects Newspaper from Liability for Reader Comments–Collins v. Purdue

By Eric Goldman Collins v. Purdue University, 2010 WL 1250916 (N.D. Ind. March 24, 2010) The plaintiff, Timothy J. Collins, III, is a Purdue student. The defendant in this ruling is Federated Publications, which publishes a Lafayette, Indiana daily newspaper,…

N.D. Cal Rejects Preemption and Standing Defenses Against Claims Under CA Spam Statute — Asis Internet Servs. v. Subscriberbase Inc.

[Post by Venkat] Asis Internet Services v. Subscriberbase Inc., (N.D. Cal.) Case No. 09-3505 SC; April 1, 2010 [scribd] Judge Conti (in the Northern District of California) issued a potentially significant decision last week that keeps the door open for…

Facebook Privacy Class Action Filed by Lanier Firm Voluntarily Dismissed — Melkonian v. Facebook

[Post by Venkat] Melkonian v. Facebook, Orange County Superior Court Case No. 30-2009-00293755-CU-BT-CJC [complaint] In August of last year, prominent plaintiffs’ lawyer Mark Lanier filed a privacy lawsuit against Facebook on behalf of a group of plaintiffs. [WSJ Law blog]…

eBay Mostly Beats Tiffany in the Second Circuit, but False Advertising Claims Remanded

By Eric Goldman Tiffany (NJ) Inc. v. eBay Inc., 2010 WL 1236315 (2d Cir. April 1, 2010) In a subtle opinion with potentially significant implications, eBay has preserved most of its big 2008 district court victory in the long-running Tiffany…

March 2010 Quick Links

By Eric Goldman Internet Exceptionalism * Stern v. Sony Corp., CV 09-7710 PA (C.D. Cal. Feb. 8 2010) “to the extent Plaintiff is suing Sony as a manufacturer of video games, and the provider of online services, Sony is not…

Unregulating Online Harassment Essay

By Eric Goldman I posted a very short essay to SSRN called Unregulating Online Harassment. This essay recaps and expands some of my remarks from the Denver University “Cyber Civil Rights” Symposium last November. I previously posted a lengthy recap…

Another Court Finds that TCPA Applies to Text Messages — Lozano v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.

[Post by Venkat] Lozano v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., Case No. Civ. 09-cv-6344 (N.D. Ill) [scribd] A court in Illinois rejected a motion to dismiss filed by defendants in a class action brought on behalf of plaintiffs who received…

YouTube Uploader Can’t Sue Sender of Mistaken Takedown Notice–Cabell v. Zimmerman

By Eric Goldman Cabell v. Zimmerman, 2010 WL 996007 (S.D.N.Y. Mar 12, 2010) A few other folks have written about this case already, but it’s worth noting a couple of points. Cabell posted a video, Pretty Faces, to YouTube. Actors’…