Facebook’s Lawsuit Against Competitive Email Harvesting Continues–Facebook v. ConnectU
By Eric Goldman Facebook, Inc. v. ConnectU LLC, 2007 WL 1514783 (N.D. Cal. May 21, 2007) A universal truth of the digital era: a website displaying user email addresses will be targeted by email harvesters sweeping up those email addresses…
Click Fraud Resources
By Eric Goldman I’m a little surprised that click fraud remains such a hot topic. Last summer, I thought the Google and Yahoo class action lawsuit settlements resolved the bulk of the problems, and most people would move on to…
Ninth Circuit Opinion in Perfect 10 v. Google and Amazon
By Eric Goldman Perfect 10, Inc. v. Amazon.com, Inc., CV-05-04753-AHM (9th Cir. May 16, 2007) In yet another lengthy and highly technical opinion from the Ninth Circuit (fast becoming their specialty), the Ninth Circuit has addressed the crucial case of…
Ninth Circuit Screws Up 47 USC 230–Fair Housing Council v. Roommates.com
By Eric Goldman Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley v. Roommates.com, LLC, CV-03-09386-PA (9th Cir. May 15, 2007) Just a couple months ago, in Perfect 10 v. CCBill, the Ninth Circuit issued an incredibly expansive 230 ruling. Today, in…
Social Networking Sites and the Law
By Eric Goldman On Monday, the High Tech Law Institute is co-sponsoring an event entitled “Friends, Lovers, Trust, Safety: The Present and Future of Social Networking.” The principal audience is undergraduate students, but everyone is welcome. One of the hot…
Another NY Court Says Keyword Triggering Isn’t TM Use in Commerce–Site Pro-1 v. Better Metal
By Eric Goldman Site Pro-1, Inc. v. Better Metal, LLC, 06-CV-6508 (ILG) (RER) (E.D.N.Y. May 9, 2007) The possible rift between the Second Circuit and other circuits on keyword triggering and trademark use in commerce may be widening. The latest…
Utah Trademark Protection Act Updates (from BNA)
By Eric Goldman As I previously reported, Utah legislators met with industry representatives to discuss the Utah Trademark Protection Act on April 25. BNA [BNA subscription required] provides a fresh update on developments since the April 25 meeting. According to…
Wikipedia and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) / Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
By Eric Goldman As regular readers know, this is one of my favorite topics! In December 2005 (and renewed December 2006), I predicted that marketers would overrun Wikipedia, contributing to Wikipedia’s demise. As further evidence of this effect, Danny Sullivan’s…
Broad Matching Doesn’t Violate Injunction–Rhino Sports v. Sport Court
By Eric Goldman Rhino Sports, Inc. v. Sport Court, Inc., 2007 WL 1302745 (D. Ariz. May 2, 2007) I’ve lamented before that courts don’t seem to understand broad matching (see here and here). Today, I’m changing my tune. Broad matching…
YouTube Sued Again–Football Association Premier League v. YouTube
By Eric Goldman The Football Association Premier League Ltd v. YouTube, Inc., 1:07-cv-03582-UA (SDNY complaint filed May 4, 2007) Hot on the heels of Viacom’s lawsuit against YouTube, two new plaintiffs are leading a separate lawsuit against YouTube for copyright…