Stored Communications Act Does Not Bar Discovery of Employee Phone Records–Mintz v. Bartelstein Assocs.
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Mintz v. Bartelstein & Assocs, CV 12 02554 SVW (SSx) (Aug. 14, 2012) Mintz is a sports agent who represents among others, some NBA players. He worked for Bartelstein & Associates for 11 years. After leaving…
We’ve Filed a Request to Publish Redmond v. Gawker Media
By Eric Goldman My RA Sruli Yellin and I wrote a letter requesting that the California Appellate Court publish its opinion in Redmond v. Gawker Media, the recent case that said Gizmodo’s hyperlinks to its sources helped defeat a defamation…
Sixth Circuit Affirms Conviction for Threat Posted to YouTube – US v. Jeffries
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with a comment from Eric] US v. Jeffries, 2012 WL 3641639 (6th Cir.; Aug. 27, 2012) We blogged previously about US v. Jeffries, where the district court declined to dismiss an indictment for posting an allegedly…
Ranking of “Dirtiest Hotels” Based on User Ratings is “Unverifiable Rhetorical Hyperbole”–Seaton v. TripAdvisor (Partial Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman [This is another situation where I’m posting the first draft of this post here and linking to the Forbes version, which reads a little differently. As always, I welcome feedback about which version you liked better.] Seaton…
Virtual (SuperPoke!) Pet Owners Must Arbitrate Their Claims Against Google and Slide — Abreu v. Slide
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Abreu v. Slide, Inc., 12 0042 WHA (N.D. Cal.; July 12, 2012) This is a motion to compel arbitration filed by Google and Slide, the developer of SuperPoke! Pets. As mentioned by Eric in this initial…
Online Marketplace Not Liable to Buyer for Aborted Private Sale of Facebook Shares — Facie Libre Associates v. SecondMarket Holdings
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Facie Libre Associates v. SecondMarket Holdings, 2012 N.Y. Misc. Lexis 3914; 2012 NY Slip Op 51545U (Supreme Court of NY; Aug 10, 2012) SecondMarket operates an “online marketplace website” where shares of privately held companies are…
Amazon.com’s Anti-Counterfeiting Efforts Blessed by California Appellate Court (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman A California appellate court has blessed Amazon.com’s ($AMZN) efforts to police counterfeit goods sold by its third party merchants. This is especially good news for Amazon because the leading precedent on the topic had blessed eBay’s ($EBAY)…
Google Tries Again to Respond to Judge Alsup’s Shill Disclosure Order. Now, How About Oracle?
By Eric Goldman Oracle America, Inc. v. Google Inc., 3:10-cv-03561-WHA (N.D. Cal. Aug. 24, 2012) In the ongoing saga about Judge Alsup’s requests that Oracle and Google disclose possible shills, Google filed a supplemental disclosure that listed 13 individuals/organizations. There’s…
Judge Seeborg Rejects Sponsored Stories Settlement For Now — Fraley v. Facebook
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Fraley v. Facebook, C 11-1726 RS (N.D. Cal.; Aug 17, 2012) We’ve covered the Facebook Sponsored Stories litigation before. It’s a putative class action arguing that Facebook improperly used the likeness and personality rights of its…
Why Did Google Flip-Flop On Cracking Down On “Rogue” Websites? Some Troubling Possibilities (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman Earlier this month, Google announced that it may downgrade search results for a website if Google receives a high volume of “valid” takedown notices against the website. Google’s move has confused many Google-watchers, largely because the exact…