Fraud Allegations Don’t Trump 47 USC 230–Hopkins v. Doe

By Eric Goldman Hopkins v. Doe #1, 2011 WL 5921446 (N.D. Ga. Nov. 28, 2011). The initial complaint. Hopkins’ lawsuit-related website. This lawsuit relates to allegedly defamatory statements that Does made about Hopkins on Topix. As a pro se, Hopkins…

Pennsylvania Court Orders Personal Injury Plaintiff to Turn Over Facebook Password to Defendant — Largent v. Reed

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Largent v. Reed, 2009-1823 (Pa. Ct. of Common Pleas; Nov. 8, 2011) Keith and Jessica Largent were involved in an accident in 2007. They sued Jessica Rosko and Sagrario Pena alleging negligence and loss of consortium….

Facebook Settles With the FTC — In re Facebook, Inc.

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani, with comments from Eric] In re Facebook, Inc. (Nov. 29, 2011) (Settlement & Proposed Consent Decree [pdf]) (Mark Zuckerberg’s blog post) The FTC announced its long-rumored settlement with Facebook. The key terms: • Facebook is barred…

Court OKs Private Seizure of Domain Names Which Allegedly Sold Counterfeit Goods–Chanel, Inc. v. Does

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Chanel, Inc. v. Does, et al., 11-cv-01508-KJD-PAL (D. Nev.) (Sept. 26, 2011 Order) (Oct. 11, 2011 Order) (Nov. 14, 2011 Order) Luxury brand Chanel has engaged in a fierce campaign against counterfeit websites in federal court…

Dangerous Copyright Office Proposal to Undercut the DMCA Online Safe Harbors

By Eric Goldman In light of SOPA and its capacity to destroy the current online safe harbor scheme, it seems almost quaint to keep worrying about 17 USC 512. However, unless SOPA/PROTECT-IP passes, 512 remains an essential part of the…

Redbox Can be Liable Under the Video Privacy Protection Act for Failure to Purge Video Rental Records — Sterk v. Redbox

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Sterk v. Redbox, 11 c 1729 (N.D. Ill. Aug 19, 2011) Redbox is a company which rents DVDs to customers from automated, self-service kiosks, typically charging $1 per rental. The customer is required to return the…

eBay Gets 47 USC 230 Dismissal of Products Liability Claim–Inman v. Technicolor

By Eric Goldman Inman v. Technicolor USA, Inc., 2011 WL 5829024 (W.D. Pa. Nov. 18, 2011) Today, I’m thankful for 47 USC 230. Whenever I think about it, I am still incredulous the law is on the books. Nowadays, Congress’…

Court Awards Damages for Wrongful Disruption of Web Presence — Ordonez v. Icon Sky Holdings

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Ordonez v. Icon Sky Holdings LLC, 10-cv-60156-PAS (S.D. Fla. Aug. 30, 2011) This was another dispute involving two parties who jockeyed for control of an online presence. I guess you could say that one “jacked” the…

Can A Copyright Be Assigned By Email?–Hermosilla v. Coca-Cola

By John Ottaviani with comments from Venkat and Eric Vergara Hermosilla v. The Coca Cola Company, No. 11-11317 (11th Cir. Nov. 3, 2011). Can a copyright be assigned by an exchange of emails? Section 204(a) of the Copyright Act provides…

App Developer RockYou Settles Privacy Lawsuit–Claridge v. RockYou

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with comments from Eric] Claridge v. RockYou, 09-CV-6032-PJH (N.D. Cal.; Nov. 14, 2011) (settlement pending court approval) Eric and I previously blogged about the opinion in Claridge v. RockYou, where the court tentatively recognized the theory…