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…
A Century of Trademark Law: Looking Back and Looking Forward (Notes from my INTA Annual Meeting Talk)
By Eric Goldman At the INTA Annual Meeting in San Francisco in May, I spoke on a panel with Miles Alexander of Kilpatrick Townsend and The Rt Hon. Professor Sir Robin Jacob, now a professor at University College London. The…
Injured Pedestrian Can’t Sue Google for Providing Faulty Map Information — Rosenberg v. Harwood
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Rosenberg v. Harwood, No. 100916536 (Utah District Court; May 27, 2011) [pdf] Lauren Rosenberg was struck by an automobile while walking along a rural highway “with heavy traffic and no sidewalks.” She sued the driver of…
Righthaven Benchslapped in Ruling Saying It Lacks Standing–Righthaven v. Democratic Underground
By Eric Goldman Righthaven LLC v. Democratic Underground, LLC, 2:10-cv-01356-RLH-GWF (D. Nev. June 14, 2011) This is another stinging defeat for Righthaven. The judge emphatically rejects Righthaven’s substantive arguments about its copyright assignment from Stephens Media and harshly criticizes Righthaven’s…
Advertiser Fails in Suit Against Trademark Owner over Google Trademark Complaint–Pandora Jewelers v. Pandora Jewelry
By Eric Goldman Pandora Jewelers 1995, Inc. v. Pandora Jewelry LLC, 2011 WL 2174012 (S.D. Fla. June 2, 2011) The plaintiff is a long-time single-storefront jewelry retailer in Florida (in a strip mall, naturally) with an e-commerce website. Pandora Jewelry,…
17 USC 512(f) Claim Against “Twilight” Studio Survives Motion to Dismiss–Smith v. Summit Entertainment
By Eric Goldman Smith v. Summit Entertainment LLC, 2011 WL 2200599 (N.D.Ohio June 6, 2011). The THResq story on the complaint filing. Summit Entertainment produces the Twilight series of movies. Matt Smith, a/k/a Matt Heart, is a musician. He posted…
“Revisiting Search Engine Bias” Article Now Online
By Eric Goldman In 2006, I published an article entitled Search Engine Bias and the Demise of Search Engine Utopianism in the Yale Journal of Law & Technology. The paper was based on my presentation at a December 2005 conference…