Alaska Anti-Adware Law Finally Sent to Governor
BNA reports (BNA subscription required) that the anti-adware law passed by the Alaska legislature back in May was sent to the governor August 19. The article intimates that the hold-up was due to some behind-the-scenes lobbying by Google, Yahoo and…
2004 Case on Advertiser Liability for Spam
Fenn v. Redmond Venture, Inc., 2004 UT App 355 (Utah Ct. App. Oct. 15, 2004). I was digging through my stack and stumbled across this case from last year. It seems apropos to a running theme on this blog about…
Interview at Astalavista.com
I was interviewed by Astalavista.com on copyright and adware/spyware issues for their newsletter. Check out some of my loosely-structured latest thoughts on those topics.
Keyword Disputes Presentation
Tomorrow I’m speaking at the ABA Annual Meeting about trademark law and keyword disputes. I’ve prepared slides discussing the latest state of the law regarding keyword-triggering of ads by both search engines and adware.
FTC Says No Undisclosed Adware? In the Matter of Advertising.com
In the Matter of Advertising.com, Inc., and John Ferber, Federal Trade Commission File No. 042-3196 (consent order announced Aug. 3, 2005). The FTC is signaling that it is sending a “message” with this case. The only problem? I’m not sure…
Are Adware Advertisers Responsible for Adware?
The topic of “who is responsible for what?” in the adware industry keeps coming up. I’ve repeatedly blogged on this topic in somewhat piecemeal fashion, but I finally organized my thoughts into an editorial that ran this morning in News.com….
Bellia on Spyware, and Searcy v. Microsoft
Patricia Bellia of Notre Dame Law School recently posted a paper on spyware and surveillance laws, Spyware and the Limits of Surveillance Law. She challenges those who believe that the Electronic Communications Privacy or the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act…
Spyware, the Pew Report, Anti-Terrorism Efforts and Coping with Spam
I’m a little late blogging about the most recent Pew report on spyware. A couple of weeks ago, Pew Internet & American Life Project released its report “Spyware: The threat of unwanted software programs is changing the way people use…
“Adware’s Second Act”
Stefanie Olsen at News.com recaps some of the efforts that adware makers have undertaken to become more legitimate. She points to the example of WhenU, which changed its installation policies and cleaned out some distributors–and watched its installation base drop…
Gosbee v. Martinson–Trial Court Motion to Dismiss Reversed on Appeal
Gosbee v. Martinson, 2005 ND APP 10 (N.D. Ct. App. July 6, 2005). This is the latest ruling in a RICO action based on the “Spy Wiper” software program. The plaintiff alleges that the defendants hijacked his computer to create…