Top Ten Internet Law Developments of 2012 (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman I’m pleased to share my list of top 10 developments of 2012: #10: The Push Towards Anti-Class Action Arbitration Clauses. In 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion that businesses may be able to adopt mandatory…
The FTC Smartly Ends Its Imprudent Google Search Antitrust Investigation (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has ended its nearly two-year-old antitrust investigation of Google’s ($GOOG) search engine practices with minimal consequences to Google. You can see the details from the FTC’s announcement. With any company as…
Section 230 Still Keeping the Pro Se Plaintiffs at Bay–Klayman v. Facebook, and More
By Eric Goldman I’m personally committed to blogging every Section 230 case I see, but I fell off the wagon in the second half of 2012. So what better way to usher out 2012 and ring in the new year…
Anti-Scraping Lawsuits Are Going Crazy in the Real Estate Industry (Catch-Up Post)
By Jake McGowan with comments from Eric [Eric’s preliminary note: it’s taken me weeks to review this blog post, so I’ve been keeping poor Jake in a holding pattern. Still, I hope the wait is worth it.] The real estate…
Court Dismisses Class Action Against Apple Over Its App Developers’ Information Collection Practices – Pirozzi v. Apple
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with comments from Eric] Pirozzi v. Apple, 2012 WL 6652453 (N.D. Cal.; Dec. 20, 2012) This is one of several putative class actions over the information collection practices of apps. I previously covered how the lawsuit…
Calling Someone a “Terrorist” Online Is Non-Actionable Opinion–LeBlanc v. Skinner
By Eric Goldman LeBlanc v. Skinner, 2012 WL 6176900 (N.Y.A.D. Dec. 12, 2012) I’ve never heard of Wawayanda, New York before now, but I won’t quickly forget it. The court succinctly summarizes the underlying incident: [Town Board member] Soro discovered…
Two More Cases Hold That Anti-SLAPP Laws Protect Consumer Reviews
By Eric Goldman Every anti-SLAPP law is worded differently, but some statutes protect statements on “matters of public interest,” “issues of public concern” or something similar. This language usually doesn’t explicitly reference consumer reviews of marketplace offerings, but my position…
Facebook Doesn’t Violate Antitrust Law When It Controls Its Users’ Experience–Sambreel v. Facebook (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman Sambreel Holdings LLC v. Facebook, Inc., 2012 WL 5995240 (S.D. Cal. Nov. 29, 2012) As successful Internet companies evolve from shoestring start-ups into marketplace incumbents, inevitably their reward will include antitrust challenges to their conduct. The flagship example…
Sex Offender Online Registration Statute Covers New Myspace Account — State v. White
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani, with comments from Eric] New Hampshire v. White, 2012 WL 6062701 (N.H., Dec. 7, 2012) New Hampshire requires registered sex offenders to notify law enforcement when they create new “online identifiers.” The defendant, a registered sex…
Employee Terminated for Facebook Message Fails to State Public Policy Claim — Barnett v. Aultman
Barnett v. Aultman Hosp., 11-CV-399 (N.D. Oh. Oct. 31, 2012) Barnett was a nurse at Aultman Hospital. She didn’t particularly get along with her supervisor, Lisa Summer. While Barnett was on vacation, she received word that Summer had been fired….