Court Dismisses Misappropriation Claims Against Facebook Over Its Friend Finder Service — Cohen v. Facebook
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Cohen v. Facebook, C 10-5282 RS (N.D. Cal. June 28, 2011) There are a slew of publicity rights lawsuits pending against Facebook. This one alleged that Facebook misappropriated the names and likenesses of Facebook users by…
Recapping Righthaven Developments from the Past Two Weeks
By Eric Goldman I blogged about Righthaven two weeks ago (“Righthaven Benchslapped in Ruling Saying It Lacks Standing“) and then went offline during a business trip to Russia (I have more to say about that trip shortly, but you can…
“Hot Topics in UGC Liability” Talk Slides
By Eric Goldman Earlier this month, Internet law superstar Ian Ballon and I spoke for about 90 minutes on hot topics in Internet law. Watch the video by downloading or streaming (item #47) it. I spoke about recent legal developments…
San Diego County Bar Tackles Lawyer Friend Requests and the Ex Parte Rule
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] The San Diego County Bar Association recently tackled the issue of whether a lawyer’s friend request to an employee of a party violates the rule barring ex-parte communications by a lawyer with a party whom the…
Another Ripoff Report Win–A-1 Technology v. Magedson
By Eric Goldman [Note: I have a thick blogging queue of cases to tackle, so if I haven’t gotten to your recent favorites yet, a post may still be coming.] A-1 Technology, Inc. v. Magedson, 150033/10 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. June…
George Mason “Law and Economics of Search Engines and Online Advertising” Conference Recap
By Eric Goldman Last week I participated in a conference entitled “The Law and Economics of Search Engines and Online Advertising” at George Mason Law School, sponsored by Google. In light of this week’s disclosures about the FTC, state AGs…
Court Conducts in camera Review of Plaintiff’s Facebook Page to Resolve Discovery Dispute — Offenback v. Bowman
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Offenback v. Bowman, 10-CV-1789 (M.D. Pa.; June 22, 2011) Background: Discovery disputes over Facebook accounts and whether they are discoverable in civil cases are piling up. Courts and litigants continue to grapple with the central problem…
What Would a Government-Operated Search Engine Look Like in the US?
By Eric Goldman [Today’s WSJ announcement that the FTC plans to subpoena Google reminds us that search engine bias issues are heating up rather than winding down. I recently posted my article recapping the last 5 years of developments on…
Employer Who Fails to Consistently Enforce Computer Usage Policy Cannot use the Policy to Justify Dismissal — Branson v. Harrah’s
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Branson v. Harrah’s Tunica Corp., et al., 08-cv-02804-BBD-cgc (W.D. Tn; June 3, 2011) (decision) Background: Branson was an employee with the Grand Casino for over ten years, from 1996 to 2007. Harrah’s acquired Grand in 2006….
Bank ACH Fraud Victims Get Mixed Rulings — Experi-Metal v. Comerica Bank & Patco Constr. v. People’s United Bank
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] We have posted on numerous cases involving data breach plaintiffs who are rebuffed by courts because they have not suffered cognizable harm such as out-of-pocket losses. A pair of recent cases involved businesses whose bank accounts…