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…
Top Cyberlaw Developments of 2007
By Eric Goldman I have posted my annual Cyberlaw recap, enumerating the top 10 Cyberlaw developments from 2007, at InformIT. You’ll have to read the whole thing to find out my votes for the biggest developments from last year (can…
1-800 Contacts Sues LensWorld for Keyword Advertising
By Eric Goldman 1-800 Contacts, Inc. v. LensWorld.com, Inc., 2:08-cv-00015-SA (D. Utah complaint filed Jan. 8, 2008) My my, look who’s decided to go back into court! It’s none other than 1-800 Contacts, the online retailer with a lousy trademark…
Road Show Spring 2008
Some of the places I’ll be this semester. As always, please let me know if I should plan to see you there! January Jan. 15: Best Practices for Businesses Exploring…Exploiting…and Expanding in Web 2.0, Pike & Fischer teleconference Jan. 26:…
2007 Blog Year-in-Review
By Eric Goldman A look back at 2007: Most Popular Blog Posts 1) The Most Effective Anti-Terrorism Law EVER 2) Utah Bans Keyword Advertising 3) Rescuecom v. Google Law Professors’ Amicus Brief [overflow from #1] 4) Sex.com — An Update…
“SmartSearch” = Dumb Trademark — Applied Information Sciences v. eBay
By Eric Goldman Applied Information Sciences Corp. v. eBay, Inc., 2007 WL 4553999 (9th Cir. Dec. 28, 2007) This is not an earth-shattering case, but it’s a nice example of a worthless trademark enforcement action and a refreshing example of…
New Jersey Authorizes Ban of Sex Offenders’ Internet Access
By Eric Goldman New Jersey S1979 (signed December 27, 2007) New Jersey has passed a law allowing various punishment authorities (judges, parole officers, etc.) to restrict Internet use by convicted sex offenders. The main operative restriction says that these authorities…