Former Employee’s ‘Email Barrage’ Does Not Support CAN-SPAM or Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Claims — Nyack Hosp. v. Moran
[Post by Venkat] Nyack Hosp. v. Moran, 08 Civ. 11112 (SCR)(PED) (S.D.N.Y.; Oct. 20, 2010) Moran was employed by Nyack Hospital. When the employment relationship ended he: sent [an unspecified number of] e-mails, including a 17-page attachment, to over “100…
Blogger Wins Fair Use Defense…On a Motion to Dismiss!–Righthaven v. Realty One
By Eric Goldman Righthaven LLC v. Realty One Group, Inc., 2010 WL 4115413 (D. Nev. Oct. 19, 2010) I’ve mentioned Righthaven before in my quick links, but this is my first full blog post about them. I trust most of…
Probation Limitations on Internet and Facebook Use Violate First Amendment — In re J.J.
[Post by Venkat] In re J.J., Case No. D055603 (Cal. Ct. App. Oct. 15, 2010) J.J. is a 15 year old who was found to have received a stolen motorcycle. He was adjudged a ward of the court and placed…
First Sale and Exhaustion Doctrines in IP Conference, Nov. 5, SCU
By Eric Goldman I’ve mentioned our First Sale and Exhaustion in IP conference before, but now it’s less than 3 weeks away. If you were thinking about coming, now is a good time to confirm your spot. As regular readers…
Shining the Spotlight on Trademark Bullies (a Long-Delayed Recap of a Trademark Scholars Roundtable)
By Eric Goldman [Occasionally, a blog post gets “stuck” in draft mode for months. These posts typically do not age well, as intervening developments often render the post moot or less interesting. As a result, most stuck blog posts eventually…
Blog Host Can’t Be Bound by TRO for User Posts (Blockowicz redux)–Bobolas v. Does
By Eric Goldman Bobolas v. Does 1-100, 2010 WL 3923880 (D. Ariz. Oct. 1, 2010) This lawsuit involves Bobolasgate.info, a Greek-language blog/website that appears to criticize Greek real estate and media mogul George Bobolas (ranked as one of the top…
Sending Politically Charged Emails Does Not Support Disturbing the Peace Conviction — State v. Drahota
[Post by Venkat] State v. Drahota, 280 Neb. 627 (Sept. 24, 2010) [pdf] Background: Drahota was a student at the University of Nebraska who corresponded via email with his political science professor Avery. According to the opinion, they “shared a…
Class Action for Misleading Pop-up Ads Against McAfee Survives Motion to Dismiss — Ferrington v. McAfee
[Post by Venkat] Ferrington v. McAfee, Case No. 10-cv-01455-LHK (N.D. Cal. Oct. 5, 2010) There have been a few rulings involving class actions from customers alleging that an online merchant partnered with a third party who improperly piggybacked on to…
Inflatable Giant Gorilla Attacks Google (for Copyright Infringement)–Scherba v. Google
By Eric Goldman Scherba Industries v. Google, Inc., 1:10-cv-02288 (N.D. Ohio complaint filed Oct. 7, 2010). Scherba makes giant inflatable gorillas. See an example. A little improbably, it has a copyright registration for a 3D sculptural work called “Gorilla Inflatable”–the…
September 2010 Quick Links, Part 2
By Eric Goldman Contracts * Hutchison v. Yahoo, 2010 WL 3706571 (9th Cir. Sept 20, 2010). AT&T’s early termination fee wasn’t a penalty, even as applied to a termination with only 2 weeks of service left. * Evan Brown: Software…