Jan. 2008 Quick Links (Non-IP Edition)

By Eric Goldman 47 USC 230 * Doe v. SexSearch, the case absolving a website for age verification of its users, has been appealed. * The Supreme Court denied cert in Parker v. Google. See 2008 WL 114262. * NYT…

1-800 SKI VAIL Doesn’t Infringe–Vail Associates v. Vend-Tel-Co

By Eric Goldman Vail Associates, Inc. v. Vend-Tel-Co., Ltd., 2008 WL 342272 (10th Cir. Feb. 7, 2008) This case nicely illustrates that a vanity 800 number containing a third party trademark doesn’t create a likelihood of consumer confusion. To the…

Third Circuit Says Google Isn’t State Actor–Jayne v. Google Founders

By Eric Goldman Jayne v. Google Internet Search Engine Founders, No. 07-4083 (3rd Cir. Feb. 7, 2008) You may recall Jayne v. Google Founders, one of several wacky pro se lawsuits filed against Google last summer. When I first saw…

Kentucky Court Votes Keyword Ads = TM Use in Commerce–TDI v. Golf Preservations

By Eric Goldman T.D.I. International, Inc. v. Golf Preservations, Inc., 2008 WL 294531 (E.D. Ky. Jan. 31, 2008) In a thinly reasoned opinion with meager facts, a Kentucky federal court meekly voted that keyword advertising is a trademark use in…

State of the Net Conference Recap

By Eric Goldman Today I attended the State of the Net conference, sponsored by the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee. This event has become the “go-to” event for Internet policy wonks. Well over 300 people attended, including many well-known folks….

ABA IP Section Quietly Considering Anti-Consumer Proposals to Regulate Keyword Advertising

By Corynne McSherry and Eric Goldman [Eric’s note: this is a bit of an unusual post for this blog, as it is being simultaneously posted both here and on the EFF Deep Links site] The tussle over keyword advertising has…

Wikipedia Revisited: the Wikipedia Community’s Xenophobia

By Eric Goldman Regular blog readers know that I have mixed emotions about Wikipedia. On the plus side: * Wikipedia is a terrific and fascinating resource that I use multiple times a day (Wikipedia remains the #2 visited site in…

Who Owns “CyberLaw”(TM)? Eric Menhart, a DC IP Attorney, Thinks He Does

By Eric Goldman Every now and then, we see comical efforts to claim trademark rights in common Internet-related terms. You might recall that the word “Internet” itself was once a trademark (see a list of registrants dated 1994); the term…

Contract Formed Even If Customer Never Received It–Schwartz v. Comcast

By Eric Goldman Schwartz v. Comcast Corp., 2007 WL 4212693 (3d Cir. Nov. 30, 2007) This case just crossed my desk, and I’m surprised it hasn’t gotten more attention. (Declan at News.com wrote about it with a misdirected headline, and…

Web 2.0 Marketing and the Law

By Eric Goldman Today I participated in the Pike & Fischer teleconference on Web 2.0 legal issues (” Best Practices for Businesses Exploring…Exploiting…and Expanding in Web 2.0″). Among other things, I was asked, in 8 minutes or less, to provide…