Lawsuit Against Avvo for Lawyer’s Profile Dismissed as SLAPP–Davis v. Avvo
By Eric Goldman Davis v. Avvo, 2:11-cv-01571-RSM (W.D. Wash. March 28, 2012). Avvo’s post when the lawsuit was initially filed. Florida lawyer Larry Joe Davis, Jr. claimed that his Avvo profile misrepresented his practice. He sued Avvo in Florida for…
Emailing the URL of an Allegedly Defamatory Post Immunized by 47 USC 230–Shrader v. Biddinger
By Eric Goldman Shrader v. Biddinger, 2012 WL 976032 (D. Colo. February 17, 2012). That ruling is the magistrate’s report. The judge adopted the magistrate report verbatim last week. The initial complaint. This case also produced an interesting 10th Circuit…
Trademark Lawsuit Over Website Text Comparing Products Baffles the Judge–AR Pillow v. Cottrell
By Eric Goldman AR Pillow Inc. v. Cottrell, 2012 WL 868109 (W.D.Wash. March 13, 2012). The complaint. Every time I read an opinion like this, a little piece of me dies. This is a ridiculously easy case, yet somehow it…
Jan.-Feb. 2012 Quick Links, Part 6 (Privacy and more)
By Eric Goldman Privacy It was a really busy two months for privacy, and I’m sorry I didn’t get to grok a number of these developments in more detail! * State AGs are unhappy with Google’s privacy integration of its…
Another 512(f) Claim Fails–Ouellette v. Viacom
By Eric Goldman Ouellette v. Viacom Intern., Inc., 2012 WL 850921 (D. Mont. March 13, 2012). Prior blog post on the case. Ouellette brought a 17 USC 512(f) claim against Viacom for sending bogus takedown notices. As we know, it’s…
Irrational Copyright Lawsuit Over “Pi Symphony” Gets Sliced–Erickson v. Blake
By Eric Goldman Erickson v. Blake, 2012 WL 847327 (D. Oregon March 14, 2012). The complaint. A prior ruling in the case transferring it from Nebraska to Oregon for jurisdictional reasons. Techdirt’s coverage (1, 2). This case could be an…
Facebook’s “Browsewrap” Enforced Against Kids–EKD v. Facebook
By Eric Goldman E.K.D. v. Facebook, Inc., 3:12-cv-01216-JCS (S.D. Ill. March 8, 2012). The complaint. This opinion reaches two interesting conclusions. First, it says children-users can’t disaffirm Facebook’s terms of service (TOS) so long as they keep using the site….
TheDirty Gets Its First 47 USC 230 Win–S.C. v. Dirty World
By Eric Goldman S.C. v. Dirty World LLC, No. 11-CV-00392-DW (W.D. Mo. March 12, 2012) thedirty got a 47 USC 230 immunity–the first time it has qualified for Section 230–in the lawsuit by Stephanie Crabtree (S.C.). This isn’t thedirty’s first…
Jan.-Feb. 2012 Quick Links, Part 5 (Advertising, Consumer Reviews & Search Engines)
By Eric Goldman Advertising and Marketing * CLRB Hanson Industries, LLC v. Weiss & Associates, PC, 2012 WL 20539 (9th Cir. Jan. 5, 2012). Ninth Circuit rejected a challenge to the CLRB Hanson v. Google settlement over AdWords budget caps….
Another Newspaper Isn’t Liable for User Website Comments Per 47 USC 230–Spreadbury v. Bitterroot Library
By Eric Goldman Spreadbury v. Bitterroot Public Library, 2012 WL 734163 (D. Montana March 6, 2012). Magistrate’s Findings and Recommendations from November 2011 (Spreadbury v. Bitterroot Public Library, 2011 WL 7462038 (D.Mont. November 30, 2011). The Justia page. It’s not…