March 2011 Quick Links, Part 3
By Eric Goldman Search Engines * Lots of Google antitrust activity: – Apparently, an EU antitrust investigation IS something that Microsoft would wish on its worst enemy. – Every legal regulator in the world is considering antitrust investigations into Google,…
StubHub Denied Section 230 Defense in Scalping Case–Hill v. StubHub
By Eric Goldman Hill v. StubHub, Inc., 2011 WL 1675043 (N.C. Super. Ct. Feb. 28, 2011). My previous blog post in this case. This is a putative class action lawsuit against StubHub for violating North Carolina’s anti-scalping laws, which both…
Claims that Emails were not Labeled as Ads and did not Disclose Tracking Preempted by CAN-SPAM — Martin v. CCH
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Martin v. CCH, 10-cv-3494 (N.D. Ill.; Mar. 24, 2011) Plaintiff received two emails from CCH, with the following subject lines: “Buy now pay Feb. 15” [and] “Offer extended – Buy now pay Feb. 15” Based on…
Republisher of Youthful Sexting Photos Avoids Liability (For Now)–Doe v. Peterson
By Eric Goldman Doe v. Peterson, 2011 WL 1120172 (E.D. Mich. March 24, 2011) This is an interesting sexting lawsuit. Doe took explicit photos of herself and sent them via MySpace to her then-boyfriend. She did not follow my recommendations…
March 2011 Quick Links, Part 2
By Eric Goldman Trademark * Apple is on the road to CrazyTown with its attempt to secure and protect trademark rights in “App Store.” Among the “highlights” this month: – it sued Amazon. Marty’s comments. The Justia page. – Microsoft…
Online Booksellers Get 47 USC 230 Immunity for Publisher-Supplied Marketing Collateral–Parisi v. Sinclair
By Eric Goldman Parisi v. Sinclair, 2011 WL 1206193 (D.C. D.C. March 31, 2011). The complaint. More source documents. Sinclair self-published a book that Parisi believes defamed him. The book showed up in Books-a-Million, B&N and Amazon. All of the…
Court Denies Request for Discovery of Facebook and Twitter Account Information, Finding that the Request is a “Digital Fishing Expedition”
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Caraballo v. City of NY, Index No. 75535/08 (N.Y. Sup. Ct.; Mar. 4, 2011) Plaintiff suffered personal injuries “while performing work at 417 O’Gorman Avenue, also known as 45 Keegans Lane, on Staten Island.” Predictably, defendant…
March 2011 Quick Links, Part 1 (Special Copyright Edition)
By Eric Goldman * Big news #1: Judge Chin rejected the Google Book Search settlement. The opinion. If you read only one commentary about the rejection, it should be James Grimmelmann’s recap. My 2008 comments on the settlement. * Big…
Trademark Owner Gets Injunction Against Keyword Ad Campaign That Generated No Sales for the Advertiser
By Eric Goldman InternetShopsInc.com v. Six C Consulting, Inc., 2011 WL 1113445 (N.D. Ga. March 24, 2011) [I know the headline sounds like an April Fools joke, but no April Fools here…although, as I will show, this case definitely involved…
N.D. Cal.: Facebook Posts are Electronic Mail Messages, Subject to CAN-SPAM — Facebook v. Maxbounty
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Facebook, Inc. v. Maxbounty, Inc., CV-10-4712-JF (N.D. Cal.; Mar. 28, 2011) The Northern District of California ruled that commercial posts to a Facebook user’s wall, news feed, and home page constitute “electronic mail messages” that are…