August 2008 Quick Links, Part 1

By Eric Goldman eBay * Mazur v. eBay Inc., 2008 WL 2951351 (N.D. Cal. July 25, 2008). See my previous blog post on the case. Some commentators are excited about this ruling because it rejects eBay’s motion to dismiss a…

426,487 Reasons Why Metatags Still Matter (In Court)–Venture Tape v. McGills

By Eric Goldman Venture Tape Corp. v. McGills Glass Warehouse, 2008 WL 3959997 (1st Cir. Aug. 28, 2008). For more on the case, see the initial 2003 ruling denying a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction and a 2006…

eBay Cracks Down on Cookie Stuffing–eBay v. Digital Point Solutions

By Eric Goldman eBay, Inc. v. Digital Point Solutions, No. 5:08-cv-04052-PVT (N.D. Cal. complaint filed Aug. 25, 2008) It is exceedingly rare for marketers to sue affiliates who are trying to game their affiliate programs. I’m sure there have been…

Io v. Veoh Comments–a Terrific 512(c) Defense-Side Win

By Eric Goldman IO Group v. Veoh Networks, Inc., 5:2006cv03926 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 27, 2008) We spend so much time thinking about and debating 17 USC 512(c) that it’s easy to lose sight of how few cases really interpret the…

SEC Proposes that Companies Should Be Liable for Content Linked from the Company’s Website

By Eric Goldman [Note: I haven’t had a chance to blog the Veoh case–coming soon!] The Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) is proposing an interesting policy with respect to a securities issuer linking to discussions about it. See pages…

7Search Sues McAfee For Red Flagging It

By Eric Goldman 7Search.com v. McAfee, Inc., 1:2008cv04831 (N.D. Ill. complaint filed Aug. 25, 2008). The Justia page. I don’t have a good sense of how many lawsuits have been filed against anti-spyware vendors for classifying third party software as…

Court Slams Competitive Metatagging and Keyword Advertising–Soilworks v. Midwest Industrial Supply

By Eric Goldman Soilworks, LLC v. Midwest Indus. Supply, Inc., 2008 WL 3286975 (D. Ariz. Aug. 7, 2008) All too frequently, we get an opinion where the judge clearly didn’t grasp current implementations of keyword advertising and metatagging. Often, it’s…

Competitive Pop-up Ads Aren’t Unfair Competition or Tortious Interference–Overstock v. SmartBargains

By Eric Goldman Overstock.com, Inc. v. SmartBargains, Inc., 2008 UT 55 (Utah Sup. Ct. Aug. 19, 2008) In light of the death of adware and the fact that almost all of us have moved on, it is jarring to see…

State of the Net West 2008 Recap

By Eric Goldman Earlier this month, the High Tech Law Institute co-sponsored “State of the Net West,” an event designed to facilitate a conversation between DC policy makers and Silicon Valley technology folks. We had a terrific turnout (especially given…

Principal Loses Lawsuit Against Students and Parents Over Fake MySpace Page–Draker v. Schreiber

By Eric Goldman Draker v. Schreiber, 2008 WL 3457023 (Tex. App. Ct. Aug. 13, 2008). The majority opinion. The concurrence. John O. and I have previously blogged about teenagers creating fake web pages targeting someone at their school. See, e.g.,…