A Patent For Geotagging IP Packets Raises Important Internet Law Questions (Guest Blog Post)
by guest blogger Marketa Trimble On September 12, 2017, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a patent on a technology that could significantly affect the functioning of the internet and the course of internet-related law and policy, and achieve an…
Online Marketplace Not Enjoined Over Gray Market Goods Sales–Dentsply v. Net32
Dentsply Sirona is a dental supply company. They use a chain of distributors and engage in international price discrimination (i.e., goods in the US market are priced higher than in international markets). Net32 runs an e-commerce site for dental supplies that relies…
Airbnb Gets Crucial Section 230 Win Over Unauthorized Subleases–La Park La Brea v. Airbnb
[It’s impossible to blog about Section 230 without reminding you that it remains highly imperiled.] Many of Airbnb’s short-term rental listings are illegal. For example, some listings violate local ordinances regulating short-term rentals. Also, apropos to this case, some listings constitute…
Some Blog News: We’re Now Hosted by Justia!
[Apologies if you’re seeing this a second time] The blog has been on an unscheduled and unannounced hiatus for the past few weeks. The hiatus partially reflects the holidays and my need to finish grading over 200 student papers. However, mostly it’s due…
New House Bill (Substitute FOSTA) Has More Promising Approach to Regulating Online Sex Trafficking
Tomorrow, the House Judiciary Committee will markup the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017 (abbreviated to “FOSTA”). It appears a new substitute version of FOSTA will be marked up, not the bill as introduced. This makes a total of…
Fourth Judge Says Social Media Sites Aren’t Liable for Supporting Terrorists–Pennie v. Twitter
[It’s impossible to blog about Section 230 without reminding you that it remains highly imperiled.] This is one of the multitudinous 1-800-LAW-FIRM lawsuits against social media services for allegedly providing material support to terrorists. It has filed at least two new cases…
Social Networking Site Isn’t Liable for User’s Overdose of Drugs He Bought Via the Site–Dyroff v. Ultimate Software
[It’s impossible to blog about Section 230 without reminding you that it remains highly imperiled.] This opinion is a contender for the most interesting Section 230 ruling of 2017. It deals with the troubling situation of user-to-user online drug sales; it…
Interesting Tidbits From FTC’s Antitrust Win Against 1-800 Contacts’ Keyword Ad Restrictions
Over the course of about a decade starting in 2004, 1-800 Contacts entered into over a dozen settlement agreements with competitors, most of which mutually restricted both parties from buying keyword ads triggered to their competitor’s trademarks and sometimes requiring…
Zazzle Loses Copyright Jury Verdict, and That’s Bad News for Print-on-Demand Publishers–Greg Young Publishing v. Zazzle
Greg Young Publishing licenses images for posters, many of which are beach- or surfing-themed. Zazzle users posted item listings that included the copyrighted images. Greg Young Publishing sued Zazzle. In a prior ruling, the court held that Section 512(c) applied to…
‘Blacklist’ of ModelMayhem Members Defeats Legal Liability–Brenner v. Hill
ModelMayhem facilitates matches between models and employers, such as photographers. We’ve blogged before about the risk that putative ModelMayhem employers are sexual predators, which led to a key 9th Circuit ruling that Section 230 doesn’t immunize “failure to warn” claims. I’m amazed ModelMayhem has survived despite…