Wikipedia Edits Support Defamation Claim–Pitale v. Holestine
By Eric Goldman Pitale v. Holestine, 2012 WL 638755 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 27, 2012) Given the size and scale of its database, it’s remarkable that we don’t see more US defamation lawsuits filed (rather than just threatened) over Wikipedia entries….
Tea Partiers Wage War Against Each Other Over a Google Groups Account–Kremer v. Tea Party Patriots
By Eric Goldman Kremer v. Tea Party Patriots, Inc., 2012 WL 639134 (Ga. App. Ct. Feb. 29, 2012). The docket. I’m going to exercise extraordinary restraint and not crack any jokes about the Tea Party movement or its adherents. Kremer…
Facebook, Google and Lexis-Nexis Get 47 USC 230 Immunity in a Bizarre Case Involving a Missing Sex Toy–Gaston v. Facebook
By Eric Goldman Magistrate ruling: Gaston v. Facebook, Inc., 2012 WL 629868 (D. Or. February 2, 2012) Judge’s approval of the magistrate’s ruling: Gaston v. Facebook, Inc., 2012 WL 610005 (D. Or. February 24, 2012) Kanal V. Gaston went on…
Healthcare Data Breach Victims’ Lawsuit Tossed When They Can’t Show Harm–Paul v. Providence
By Eric Goldman Paul v. Providence Health Systems–Oregon, SC S059131 (Ore. Sup. Ct. Feb. 24, 2012) A Providence employee left disks/tapes containing records for 365,000 patients in his/her car, and they were stolen. The opinion implicitly assumes that the data…
Reidentification Theory Doesn’t Save Privacy Lawsuit–Steinberg v. CVS Caremark
By Eric Goldman Steinberg v. CVS Caremark Corp., 2012 WL 507807 (E.D. Pa. Feb. 16, 2012) CVS Caremark provided consumer data to pharma companies and data brokers. The plaintiffs alleged that the data transfers violated CVS’s privacy policies, but CVS…
Reputation Management Lawsuit Is Shot Down–Bernard v. Donat
By Eric Goldman Bernard v. Donat, 2012 WL 525533 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 16, 2011). The Justia page. Donald Ray Bernard is an energy consultant, big game hunt tour operator, former lawyer and former law professor. His LinkedIn page. His Google…
Banning Sex Offenders from Social Networking Sites is Unconstitutional–Doe v. Jindal
By Eric Goldman Doe v. Jindal, 2012 WL 540100 (M.D. La. Feb. 16, 2012) Sex offenders–especially those who victimize children–are pariahs in our society. If it were possible, I bet many folks would favor blasting them off into space rather…
Talk Notes: Death of the Initial Interest Confusion Doctrine?
By Eric Goldman As you may know, the IP professor community is blessed to have a number of “work-in-progress” events where we share our research-in-process with, and get early feedback from, our peers. Last weekend, I attended one of those…
Employee Wins Harassment Claim Based in Part on Co-Workers’ Offsite Blog Posts–Espinoza v. Orange
By Eric Goldman Espinoza v. County of Orange, 2012 WL 420149 (Cal. App. Ct. February 9, 2012) Espinoza was born with an incomplete hand. In 1996, he started working for the county probations department. In 2006, a co-worker started two…
Roommates.com Isn’t Dealing in Illegal Content, Even Though the Ninth Circuit Denied Section 230 Immunity Because It Was
By Eric Goldman Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley v. Roommate.com, LLC, 2012 WL 310849 (9th Cir. February 2, 2012) A brief history of this long-running case. Fair housing advocates sued Roommates.com for allowing potential roommates to evaluate each…