H1 2012 Quick Links, Part 3 (Advertising & Privacy)

By Eric Goldman Advertising * Gomez-Jimenez v. New York Law School: False advertising lawsuit against NYLS dismissed. Rebecca’s coverage. * Marketing Land: Pew Survey: 68% View Targeted Ads Negatively; 59% Have Noticed Targeting. Partially related: Search Engine Land: Pew Report:…

Confirmatory Opt-Out Text Message Doesn’t Violate TCPA – Ibey v. Taco Bell

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Ibey v. Taco Bell Corp., 12 CV 0583 (HVG) (S.D. Cal.; June 18, 2012) Plaintiff responded to an invitation to complete a survey about Taco Bell and “voluntarily sent a text message . . . to…

The “I Didn’t Understand Facebook’s Privacy Settings” Argument Isn’t Persuasive to Judges–Sumien v. CareFlite

By Eric Goldman Sumien v. CareFlite, 2012 WL 2579525 (Tex. App. Ct. July 5, 2012). Appellate court docket. Sumien and Roberts were CareFlite EMTs. Roberts posted on a third employee’s Facebook wall how she wanted to slap a patient. Responding…

Men’s Journal Beats Lawsuit Alleging Violation of California’s “Shine the Light” Privacy Statute — Boorstein v. Men’s Journal

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with comments from Eric] Boorstein v. Men’s Journal LLC, 12-771 DSF (Ex) (C.D. Cal.; June 14, 2012) California’s Shine the Light (STL) statute is a little unusual in that it mandates that businesses make specific disclosures…

H1 2012 Quick Links, Part 2 (Copyright)

By Eric Goldman * The scandal continues: Techdirt reports the Dajaz1 seizure was held up for months because the government was waiting for the RIAA to provide supporting evidence that never materialized. Wait, ICE seized an asset (that is used…

Judge Koh Whittles Down iPhone App Privacy Lawsuit – In re iPhone Application Litig.

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] In re iPhone Application Litig., 11-MD-02250-LHK (N.D. Cal.; June 12, 2012) Plaintiffs brought a putative class action against Apple and several “mobile industry defendants.” The basic allegations are that apps available for free in the app…

H1 2012 Quick Links, Part 1 (Trademarks/Domain Names, Patents, Trade Secrets, IP)

By Eric Goldman [Eric’s note: I had an incredibly busy travel schedule since late March. My destinations included Akron, NYC, Seattle, Concord (NH), Boston, Chicago, Vancouver, the California Channel Islands (a blog post is coming later this week about that…

Angie’s List’s Telephone and Fax Information Services May Be Immunized by Section 230–Courtney v. Vereb

By Eric Goldman Courtney v. Vereb, 2012 WL 2405313 (E.D. La. June 25, 2012) Courtney and Vereb are both psychiatric professionals. Vereb posted allegedly defamatory comments about Courtney to Angie’s List in 2009. Courtney says he discovered the comments in…