Trademark Owner Sues Over Alleged Twittersquatting–Coventry First, LLC v. Does
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Coventry First, LLC v. Does, 11-cv-03700-JS (complaint filed June 7, 2011) The last big tussle over twittersquatting, and infringement through use of a trademark or name in a twitter handle was between Tony La Russa and…
Buying Personal Names for Keyword Ads Isn’t a Publicity Rights Violation–Habush v. Cannon
By Eric Goldman Habush v. Cannon, 09-CV-18149 (Wis. Cir. Ct. June 8, 2011). The June 2010 denial of the motion to dismiss. A good overview article from when the complaint was filed. Introduction A Wisconsin court has said that a…
April-May 2011 Quick Links, Part 4
By Eric Goldman Social Media * The footballer superinjunction (for Ryan Giggs) was much bigger news in Britain than it was here. From my perspective, it was just another effort by a foreign government to squelch a Silicon Valley Internet…
Site Moderators Weren’t Agents of the Site–Cornelius v. BodyBuilding.com
By Eric Goldman Cornelius v. BodyBuilding.com, LLC, 2011 WL 2160358 (D. Idaho June 1, 2011) This case involves a nutritional supplement called Syntrax, which is available for sale on an e-commerce site BodyBuilding.com. The site supports users comments and message…
April-May 2011 Quick Links, Part 3
By Eric Goldman Search Engines * Google is working on a deal with the DOJ over illegal pharmaceutical ads and has set aside $500M for fines. Some background on the problem. Google isn’t the only search engine with problematic pharmaceutical…
Forum Selection Clause in “Submerged” Terms of Service Presumptively Unenforceable — Hoffman v. Supplements Togo
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Hoffman v. Supplements Togo Mgmt. LLC, A-5022-09T3 (N.J. Ct. App.; May 13, 2011) Plaintiff who happened to be a lawyer brought putative class claims against Supplements Togo, alleging that the “Erection MD” “dietary supplement” sold via…
NebuAd Deep Packet Inspection Lawsuits Sputter — Deering v. CenturyTel & Green v. Cable One
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] The alleged monitoring and use of ISP subscribers’ internet activity for advertisement targeting purposes by NebuAd spawned a slew of class actions. NebuAd shut down, leaving plaintiffs to go after the individual ISPs who partnered with…
TheDirty Defeats Privacy Invasion Lawsuit–Dyer v. Dirty World
By Eric Goldman Dyer v. Dirty World LLC, 2011 WL 2173900 (D. Ariz. June 2, 2011). The summary judgment motion, Dyer’s opposition and thedirty’s reply. An ex-boyfriend submitted to thedirty.com 2 photos of Dyer in a bikini and a comment…
Ripoff Report Gets Another Big 47 USC 230 Win–Asia Economic Institute v. Xcentric
By Eric Goldman Asia Economic Institute v. Xcentric Ventures LLC, 2:10-cv-01360-SVW -PJW (C.D. Cal. May 4, 2011) The AEI Ruling Keeping alive its truly remarkable winning streak, Ripoff Report got yet another decisive 47 USC 230 victory. This challenge came…
Updates on DoctoredReviews.com and Medical Justice
By Eric Goldman You may recall our April launch of DoctoredReviews.com, a website explaining why Medical Justice’s form agreement, the “Mutual Agreement to Maintain Privacy,” was a bad deal for doctors, patients and review websites. See a list of the…