Recap of Washington State’s Employer Social Media Password Bill
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] SB 5211 (passed by Senate April 27, 2013) Both chambers of the Washington legislature passed Substitute Senate Bill 5211, and it now awaits the Governor’s signature. No Washington legislators voted against it. Here are the key…
More Evidence That Congress Misaligned the DMCA Online Copyright Safe Harbors–UMG v. Grooveshark (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman UMG Recordings, Inc. v. Escape Media Group, Inc., 2013 WL 1729431 (N.Y. App. Div. April 23, 2013) Grooveshark runs a user-generated content (UGC) website that allows users to upload sound recordings and other users to stream those…
Differences Between Consumer Surveys for Trademark Cases and False Advertising Cases
By Eric Goldman In February, I spoke about the differences between consumer surveys in trademark cases compared with false advertising cases. My talk notes: Overall, the similarities between consumer survey in the two types of cases outweigh the differences. So…
Typosquatting Claims Against Security Researcher Are Legally Complicated – Gioconda v. Kenzie
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Gioconda Law Group v. Kenzie, 2012 US Dist LEXIS 187801 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 23, 2013) Kenzie is a security researcher who has registered numerous domain names that are typographic errors of well-known trademarks (e.g., rnastercard, rncdonalds, nevvscorp,…
Nosal Convicted of Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Crime Despite His Ninth Circuit Win – US v. Nosal
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani, with a comment from Eric] US v. Nosal, CR 08-0237 EMC (N.D. Cal. Mar. 12, 2013) (.pdf, denying motion to dismiss) US v. Nosal, a case that spawned two Ninth Circuit opinions and that’s sure to…
Misguided Catfishing Scheme Leads to Discipline of College Students — Zimmerman v. Ball State
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with a comment from Eric] Zimmerman v. Ball State Univ., et al., 12-cv-01475-JMS-DML (S.D. Ind. Apr. 15, 2013). (The complaint.) Zimmerman and Sumwalt were students at Ball State University, a public university in Indiana. They apparently…
You Shouldn’t Need a Copyright Lawyer to Pick a Dentist–Lee v. Makhnevich (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman In October 2010, Robert Lee needed a dentist, pronto. He didn’t realize he needed a copyright lawyer to help him pick a dentist. In search of urgent pain relief, Lee contacted Dr. Stacy Makhnevich (a preferred provider…
Talk Slides on Section 230, Anti-SLAPP Laws and Housing Anti-Discrimination
By Eric Goldman On Friday I presented at the California State Bar’s Fifth Annual Fair Housing and Public Accommodations Symposium. My topic was to discuss how Roommates.com, Section 230 and anti-SLAPP laws restrict the ability of housing anti-discrimination to sue…
Viacom Loses Again–Viacom v. YouTube
By Eric Goldman Viacom International Inc. v. YouTube Inc., 2013 WL 1689071 (S.D.N.Y April 18, 2013) Persistence is a virtue, but stubbornness is a sin. I’m pretty sure Viacom has sinned a lot in its six years of litigation against…
Cynthia Moreno Guest Lecture to My Internet Law Course
By Eric Goldman Internet Law is blessed with some fantastic teaching cases, including the modern classic, Moreno v. Hanford Sentinel. Read the Ode to Coalinga that started it all. Cynthia works in Sacramento–about 2 hours from SCU–so in November 2012…