College Course Description Aggregator Loses First Round in Fight Against Competitor in Scraping Case — CollegeSource v. AcademyOne

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with comments by Eric] CollegeSource, Inc. v. AcademyOne, Inc., 10-3542 (E.D. Pa.; Apr. 22, 2011) This is a scraping case between CollegeSource and its competitor AcademyOne. It looks like it’s part of a long running dispute…

Dentist Pays Sizable Penalty for Not Knowing 47 USC 230–Wong v. Jing

By Eric Goldman Wong v. Jing, 1-08-CV-12997I (Cal. Superior Ct. May 13, 2011). Wendy Davis’ story on this ruling, plus coverage in DrBicuspid.com. At DoctoredReviews.com, we discussed that doctors upset with patients’ reviews can always bring a lawsuit. However, as…

Another Unhappy Facebook User’s Lawsuit Tossed–Kamango v. Facebook

By Eric Goldman Kamango v. Facebook, 2011 WL 1899561 (N.D.N.Y. April 19, 2011). The judge approved the magistrate order on May 19, 2011. See Kamango v. Facebook, 2011 WL 1899277 (N.D.N.Y. May 19, 2011). The initial complaint. Kamango claims that…

Massachusetts Supreme Court Finds Email Sufficiently Authenticated Based on Surrounding Evidence — Commonwealth v. Purdy

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Commonwealth v. Purdy, 2011 WL 1421367 (Mass.; Apr. 15, 2011) Defendant was prosecuted and convicted for maintaining a house of prostitution and deriving support from the earnings of a prostitute. The trial judge admitted various emails…

Court Allows Fair Credit Reporting Act Claims Against Spokeo to Move Forward — Robins v. Spokeo

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with comments from Eric] Robins v. Spokeo, No. CV10 05306 ODW (AGRx) (C.D. Cal.; May 11, 2011) I previously blogged about Spokeo, which is being sued for disseminating reports which allegedly contain inaccurate information about plaintiff….

Another Ruling that the Americans with Disabilities Act Doesn’t Apply to Websites–Ouellette v. Viacom

By Eric Goldman Ouellette v. Viacom: The magistrate report: 2011 WL 1882780 (D. Mont. March 31, 2011). The judge’s approval of the magistrate’s report: 2011 WL 1883190 (D. Mont. May 17, 2011). The original complaint (he filed an amended complaint…

Facebook User Loses Lawsuit Over Account Termination–Young v. Facebook

By Eric Goldman Young v. Facebook, Inc., 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 52711 (N.D. Cal. May 17, 2011). My post on Judge Fogel’s Nov. 2010 dismissal of this case with leave to amend. Karen’s lawsuit-related website. I respect people of conviction,…

Plaintiff Can’t be Forced to Accept Defense Counsel’s Facebook Friend Request in Personal Injury Case — Piccolo v. Paterson

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Piccolo v. Paterson, No. 2009-04979 (Pa. Ct of Common Pleas; May 5, 2011) [.pdf] In addition to cases dealing with whether Facebook posts are discoverable in civil cases, courts and litigants continue to grapple with the…

No Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Violation for Access of Facebook and Personal Email by Employee — Lee v. PMSI

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Lee v. PMSI, 8:10 cv 2904 T 23TBM (M.D. Fla; May 6, 2011) I blogged last week about US v. Nosal, a Ninth Circuit case where the Ninth Circuit held that access of a computer in…

Thoughts on the Lawsuit Over the @OMGFacts Twitter Account — Deck v. Spartz, Inc.

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Deck v. Spartz, Inc., 2:11-cv-01123-JAM-DAD (E.D. Ca.; Apr. 26, 2011) (Complaint) (Agreement) An Associated Press story reports on the lawsuit over the @OMGFacts Twitter account. (Here’s a link to the story with comments from Professor Goldman.)…