Yet Another Case Says Section 230 Immunizes Newspapers from User Comments–Hadley v. GateHouse Media

By Eric Goldman Hadley v. GateHouse Media Freeport Holdings, Inc., 2012 WL 2866463 (N.D.Ill. July 10, 2012) One of the safest bets in Section 230 jurisprudence is that a traditional media publisher won’t be liable for user comments to its…

Court Dismisses Data Breach Claims Against Countrywide – Holmes v. Countrywide

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Holmes v. Countrywide Financial Corp., et al., 08-CV-00205-R (W.D. Ky.; July 12, 2012) In August 2008, a Countrywide employee engaged in a scheme to steal confidential customer information from Countrywide. An investigation found that the employee…

Having a Facebook or Twitter Account Shouldn’t Mean Mandatory California Vacations if You Get Sued (Forbes Cross-Post)

By Eric Goldman [Given how I feel about blogging on civil procedure topics, it’s ironic that my first substantive post to Tertium Quid is about Internet jurisdiction of all things. Still, this was an easy rehash of some recent blog…

“Cloud Computing: Is Anything Private?” Talk Notes

By Eric Goldman Last month, I spoke at Cal State Northridge to a group of academic computer users (i.e., faculty and staff) on the topic of “Cloud Computing: Is Anything Private?” My talk slides. Check out my “fun” with PowerPoint’s…

No Negligence Claim for Infringement via Shared Internet Connection (Preempted by Copyright Act) – Liberty Media v. Tabora

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Liberty Media Holdings, LLC v. Tabora & Whetstone, 12 Civ. 2234 (LAK) (S.D.N.Y.; July 9, 2012) A question that was floating around in the blogosphere was whether you can be sued for maintaining an open wi-fi…

Google Sued Again for AdWords Trademark Infringement–Home Decor Center v. Google

By Eric Goldman Home Decor Center v. Google, CV12-05706 (C.D. Cal. notice of removal filed July 2, 2012) After the 4th Circuit’s Rosetta Stone v. Google ruling, I wrote: Just like Google got hit with over a dozen lawsuits in…

Court Orders Production of Five Years’ Worth of Facebook and MySpace Posts – Thompson v. Autoliv

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Thompson v. Autoliv ASP, Inc., et al., 09-cv-01375-PMP-VCF (D. Nev.; June 20, 2012) Another discovery dispute over social networking evidence. Thompson was involved in an automobile accident and suffered serious injuries. She asserted that she suffered…

Now Blogging at “Tertium Quid” at Forbes

By Eric Goldman I’ve launched a new blog called “Tertium Quid” through the Forbes blogging platform. My introductory post there gives some background and explains the name. I expect to cover a lot of the same topics I currently cover…

H1 2012 Quick Links, Part 5 (Consumer Reviews, Content Regulation, Miscellaneous)

By Eric Goldman [This is the last of the quick links for now. Hope you’ve enjoyed them!] Consumer Reviews * Deeply troubling development: Vacation rental companies are inserting non-disparagement clauses into their contracts to suppress negative online reviews. * Ascentive,…

H1 2012 Quick Links, Part 4 (Search Engines, eBay, Social Networking Sites)

By Eric Goldman [Note: if you click on any of the Scribd links below and get a warning that you’re accessing adult content, ignore that. In only the latest of Scribd’s f-ups, it has deployed a massively overinclusive adult content…