Why You’ll Soon Be Paying Sales Taxes on All of Your Internet Purchases–Amazon v. NY Taxation Department (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman In the 1992 case Quill v. North Dakota, the U.S. Supreme Court said an out-of-state retailer can’t be obligated to collect sales taxes from buyers in states where the retailer lacks a physical presence. In those situations,…
No Claim Based on Perez Hilton’s Publication of Unsolicited but Inflammatory Reader Email – Wargo v. Lavandeira
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Wargo v. Lavandeira, JAMS Arbitration No. 1220041183 (Mar. 24, 2013) Lavandeira runs the popular Perez Hilton website, which has been involved in its fair share of legal disputes. In response to an item (presumably about Angelina…
Designing Optimal Immunities and Safe Harbors (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman [Note: this is one of those posts that languished in the queue for a few years. Depending on your response, I may decide to turn it into a lengthier academic paper. Please send me your thoughts!] You…
Another 512(f) Claim Fails–Tuteur v. Crosley-Corcoran
By Eric Goldman Tuteur v. Crosley-Corcoran, 2013 WL 1450930 (D. Mass. April 10, 2013). The complaint (page 5 shows the photo in question). We don’t see that many 17 USC 512(f) lawsuits over bogus copyright takedown noties, and we see…
Privacy on Trial: Reflections on Hoang v. IMDb
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Hoang v. IMDb.com, C11-1709MJP (W.D. Wash. Mar. 18, 2013) [Added: the jury ruled against Hoang and in favor of IMDb.] At Eriq Gardner’s suggestion, I attended the trial in Hoang v. IMDb and reported on the…
Competitive Keyword Advertising Lawsuit Survives Motion to Dismiss–Elcometer v. TCQ-USA
By Eric Goldman Elcometer, Inc. v. TQC-USA, Inc., 2013 WL 1433388 (E.D. Mich. April 9, 2013) There are so many competitive keyword advertising lawsuits that I can’t track them systematically, but I’ll still blog them when I see them. The…
New Entrepreneur’s Law Clinic and Director Announced at Santa Clara University School of Law [SCU Press Release]
By Eric Goldman [This is a project I’ve been working on for years, so I’m delighted to finally share the news. The press release issued by the school this morning:] New Entrepreneur’s Law Clinic and Director Announced at Santa Clara…
Accessing Ex-girlfriend’s MySpace Account and Posting Offensive Content Results in Conviction
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] State v Kucharski, 2013 Il App (2d) 120270 (Mar. 29, 2013): Steven and the victim were in a relationship. Because the victim was “kind of computer illiterate,” Steven set up a MySpace account for her. After…
Google Immunized for Its Search Results–Mmubango v. Google (Catch-up Post)
By Eric Goldman Mmubango v. Google, Inc., 2013 WL 664231 (E.D. Pa. February 22, 2013). The initial complaint. This is one of the many bogus pro se lawsuits over Google search results. Like the others, it goes nowhere (though the…
A Judge Hopes Mark Zuckerberg Enjoys His Money Because “He’s Going to Hurt a Lot of People”–US v. Culver
By Eric Goldman United States v. Laura Culver, 2013 WL 1110647 (2nd Cir. March 19, 2013) This case involves a horrible crime of child pornography involving an 8 year old. For more background, see the DOJ press release and the…