Interview About Section 230 and COVID Misinformation
[I did another interview with Mathew Ingram at Galley by CJR] Ingram: Eric, thanks very much for doing this. I know we’ve discussed Section 230 before on Galley, so I don’t want to go over old ground, but is there…
Blogger Defeats Defamation Claims–Buckley v. Moore
The plaintiff Buckley runs “Top Gun Options,” a site that purportedly teaches users how to trade options. The defendant Moore runs a blog called “TradingSchools.org,” which purportedly does independent reviews of investment products. Moore shot down Top Gun Options in…
![A Summary of the Copyright Claims Board (CCB) [Excerpt from my Internet Law casebook]](https://blog.ericgoldman.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/mark-konig-mx94V7uE1eU-unsplash-150x150.jpg)
A Summary of the Copyright Claims Board (CCB) [Excerpt from my Internet Law casebook]
[The 2021 edition of my Internet Law casebook is coming soon. This excerpt is a new note on the CCB. TL;DR: I’m not a fan.] Before mid-2022, the Copyright Office will deploy a new adjudicatory function called the Copyright Claims…
Google’s Search Disambiguation Doesn’t Create Initial Interest Confusion–Aliign v. lululemon
Aliign “is an event, lifestyle, and apparel company” allegedly with a first trademark use in 2011. Since 2014, they have sold a total of 7 units of apparel (5 of which were bought by the CEO’s friends). lululemon is the…
Conservative’s Lawsuit Over Google Deindexing Fails–DJ Lincoln v. Google
This is yet another #MAGA lawsuit. The plaintiff claimed that Google deindexed conservatives in a biased way. This particular plaintiff chose perhaps the least likely path to advance that claim, emphasizing RICO claims. As we all know, it’s never civil…
Second Circuit Rejects an Account Termination Lawsuit…Again (Phew!)–Domen v. Vimeo
Domen posted videos advocating for sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE). Vimeo terminated his account. Domen sued Vimeo for the termination, alleging that it discriminated against him. The district court dismissed Domen’s complaint. The Second Circuit affirmed, in a precedent-setting opinion…
New Essay: “Five Things to Know About Section 230”
At the request of Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), a Canadian think-tank, I wrote a short essay called “Five Things to Know About Section 230.” It’s a brief-and-breezy overview of Section 230 to get Canadian readers up-to-speed on our…
DC Circuit Upholds Airbnb’s TOS–Selden v. Airbnb
Selden sued Airbnb for racial discrimination. Airbnb invoked its arbitration clause. Five years ago, the district court sent the case to arbitration. Selden lost the arbitration because a room in an owner-occupied, single-family residence isn’t a public accommodation (similar to…
ADA Doesn’t Apply to Newspaper’s Website–Suris v. Gannett
The plaintiff is deaf. He tried to watch videos on the USA Today website but couldn’t due to the lack of closed captioning. USA Today defended on the grounds that its website isn’t a place of public accommodation. The court…
1H 2021 Quick Links, Part 4 (Advertising, Contracts, & More)
Advertising/E-Commerce * Ariix, LLC v. NutriSearch Corp., 2021 WL 221878 (9th Cir Jan. 22, 2021): companies now pay so-called “influencers” to issue posts on social media touting their products or services. While such social media posts may not have the…