Google Gets Favorable ECJ Opinion, But Will It Prove to Be a Hollow Victory?
By Eric Goldman The European Court of Justice issued its long-anticipated decision in the three Google AdWords cases (C-236/08, C-237-08 and C-238/08) referred to it by the French Cour de Cassation. The ruling only answers the questions posed to it…
Search Engine Legal Developments to Watch in 2010
By Eric Goldman I recently spoke on a panel about search engines and the law at SMX West. I previewed four major trends in search engine law to watch in 2010: 1) Competition issues. Antitrust/competition law has become a big…
Another Bad Ruling in Louis Vuitton v. Akanoc
By Eric Goldman Louis Vuitton Malletier, S.A. v. Akanoc Solutions, Inc., 5:07-cv-03952-JW (N.D. Cal. March 19, 2010) I have not seen a definitive statement of facts in this case, so synthesizing various cryptic statements by the court, here’s my understanding…
Viacom v. YouTube Summary Judgment Motions Highlights
By Eric Goldman Who doesn’t enjoy a good old-fashioned mud-slingin’ showdown? That’s exactly what we’ve got on our hands in the dueling summary judgment motions from Viacom and YouTube in the long-running copyright infringement case (see my initial post from…
Regulating Reputational Systems Slides
By Eric Goldman Last week, I presented my Regulating Reputational Systems talk to non-lawyers at the Jewish High Tech Community. My talk slides. I’ve been working on this topic now for about 18 months, and I’m finally getting closer to…
Stratton Faxon v. Google Dismissed
By Eric Goldman Stratton Faxon v. Google, Inc., NNH-CV-09-5031219S (Conn. Superior Ct. dismissed March 8, 2010) Stratton Faxon v. Google was always an oddball case in the constellation of trademark owner challenges to Google AdWords. First, the plaintiff–a law firm…
Data Anonymization and Re-identification Lecture Featuring Paul Ohm, SCU, April 7
By Eric Goldman University of Colorado law professor Paul Ohm has written one of the most provocative privacy-related papers of the past few years, Broken Promises of Privacy: Responding to the Surprising Failure of Anonymization. Using examples such as the…
Utah Passes Nation’s First (?) Bioprospecting Regulation
By Eric Goldman The Utah legislature has passed SB 51, the “Utah Bioprospecting Act,” which requires a government-issued license (which presumably will include a royalty cut for the state) before engaging in bioprospecting on government lands not owned by the…
TradeComet v. Google Dismissed Based on Venue Selection Clause
By Eric Goldman TradeComet.com LLC v. Google, Inc., 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20154 (SDNY March 5, 2010) The judge has (finally) dismissed TradeComet’s antitrust lawsuit against Google based on the venue selection clause in Google’s AdWords contract. The result isn’t…
Crowdsourced Ads May Not Be Protected by 47 USC 230–Subway v. Quiznos
By Eric Goldman Doctor’s Associates, Inc. v. QIP Holders LLC, 2010 WL 669870 (D. Conn. Feb. 19, 2010). My prior post on this case. As a long-time vegetarian (over a quarter-century), I find America’s obsession with “more meat” competitions simultaneously…