Web Marketing Legal Issues Talk
By Eric Goldman I gave a talk today to in-house counsel on the topic of common marketing mistakes by e-commerce websites. My slides.
Another Day, Another Lawsuit Over Search Engine Placement–Datner v. Yahoo
By Eric Goldman Datner v. Yahoo! Inc, Case No. BC355217 (Cal. Superior Court complaint filed July 11, 2006) Websites dropped from search engine databases may not be getting rich, but maybe their lawyers are. This is the latest entry in…
KinderStart Lawsuit Dismissed (With Leave to Amend)
By Eric Goldman KinderStart v. Google, Case 5:06-cv-02057-JF (N.D. Cal. motion to dismiss granted July 13, 2006) The judge granted Google’s motion to dismiss in the KinderStart lawsuit. Given the weakness of the lawsuit and the tenor of the judge’s…
Trademark Travesty of the Month–SMJ Group v. 417 Lafayette Restaurant
By Eric Goldman SMJ Group, Inc. v. 417 Lafayette Restaurant LLC, 2006 WL 1881768 (S.D.N.Y July 6, 2006) I’ve read so many horrible trademark decisions that I barely notice the garden-variety judicial screw-up. But this case is so exceptional and…
Wikipedia and 230, and a Great 230 Case Law Resource
Ken Myers, a recent Harvard Law School graduate and soon-to-be attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell, has posted an article, Wikimmunity, to SSRN. The article concludes that Wikipedia will be squarely immunized from liability by 47 USC 230. While this conclusion…
DMA Quietly Kills Telephone Preference Service
By Eric Goldman In a move that’s sure to disappoint no one, the Direct Marketing Association is going to end the Telephone Preference Service everywhere except for Maine, Pennsylvania and Wyoming (where the TPS is the statutory default do-not-call list)….
Merriam-Webster Defines “Spyware”
By Eric Goldman A lot of attention has been directed to Merriam-Webster’s addition of Google to its dictionary–as a verb, no less. I’m sure the Google trademark department isn’t thrilled about the genericide implications of this. Meanwhile, this announcement overshadowed…
Google Hits and Misses
By Eric Goldman BusinessWeek ran an article on Google’s new product launches entitled “So Much Fanfare, So Few Hits.” The article’s basic thesis: “after sparking substantial buzz, most of Google’s nonsearch offerings quickly fade from view…[a]n analysis of some two…
KinderStart Hearing and Source Documents
By Eric Goldman There was a hearing in the KinderStart v. Google case last Friday. The CNET News.com report does a good job recapping the action. (Here’s the recap from the Register). You should read the whole News.com article, but…
Griper Gets 47 USC 230 Defense for Reposted Article–D’Alonzo v. Truscello
By Eric Goldman D’Alonzo v. Truscello, 2006 Phila. Ct. Com. Pl. LEXIS 244 (Phila. Ct. Common Pleas May 31, 2006) Another 230 case, another defense win. Yawn. However, this case is noteworthy because it addresses (albeit, glibly) a thorny 230…