Google Sued for Trademark Infringement Based on Third Level Subdomain–Jews for Jesus v. Google
By Eric Goldman Jews for Jesus v. Google, Inc., 05-CV-10684 (SDNY complaint filed Dec. 21, 2005) It’s no surprise that Google has been sued again for trademark infringement, but the basis of this lawsuit is surprising. Rather than another lawsuit…
Is the Florida Attorney General a Spammer?
By Eric Goldman This is hardly the first time that politicians have been caught spamming (in Florida or otherwise), but the irony is palpable. According to Reuters: “Charlie Crist was a staunch defender of a tough anti-spam law passed by…
Spam-Free-or-Die Video
By Eric Goldman I recommend joke videos pretty rarely, but this one made me laugh out loud! (and the music wasn’t too bad either). With its vigilante sentiments, it captures the prevailing anti-spam attitudes perfectly. Check out the “Spam-Free-or-Die” video,…
When Does a Privacy Policy Breach Support a Breach of Contract Claim? In re JetBlue
By Eric Goldman In re JetBlue Airways Corp. Privacy Litigation, 79 F. Supp. 2d 299 (E.D.N.Y. August 1, 2005) I’m late blogging this case, but the case is remarkable enough to warrant some comments even at this late date. As…
Report Challenges Value of Notifying Consumers of Data Security Breaches
By Eric Goldman ID Analytics has released a report trying to quantify the harms caused by data security breaches. The report sensibly distinguishes between different types of breaches–misappropriation of name and social security numbers are different, and in some ways…
City of Heroes Lawsuits Settled
By Eric Goldman A complex but interesting legal fight between Marvel and NCSoft, about City of Heroes players generating characters that look like Marvel-owned characters, has come to an end. The press release announcing the settlement. Settlement terms were not…
4th Circuit Upholds Internet Flame War Lawsuit Dismissal on 230 Grounds–Winter v. Bassett
Winter v. Bassett, No. 03-2176 (4th Cir. Dec. 12, 2005) This lawsuit involves one of those oh-so-messy Internet flame wars/personal disputes that prompted the creation of an anti-Steve Winter website. Winter then sued a variety of people, including the web…
Click Defense Lawsuit Update
By Eric Goldman Click Defense v. Google, No. 5:05-cv-02579-RMW (N.D. Cal.). The Click Defense lawsuit is one of three pending click fraud actions (the other two being the Lane’s Gifts and CLRB Hanson Industries LLC cases). After launching the lawsuit…
The FTC, Adware Advertising and Badges of Shame
By Eric Goldman New FTC Commissioner Jon Leibowitz has embraced one of the favorite causes of the anti-adware grumblers: dry up adware funding by making adware advertisers feel some pain. According to AdAge, he recently said that the FTC might…
Downloading Music Isn’t Fair Use–BMG v. Gonzalez
By Eric Goldman BMG Music v. Gonzalez, No. 05-1314 (7th Cir. Dec. 9, 2005) This case deals with a central topic in P2P file-sharing lawsuits–was the downloading excused by fair use? This issue has come up in oblique ways in…