Contacting a Person’s Facebook Friends Isn’t Stalking–People v. Welte
By Eric Goldman People v. Welte, 2011 WL 1331900 (N.Y. Just. Ct. April 7, 2011). The defendant was subject to the following order protecting the mother of his two children: “Respondent is to have no contact with Petitioner including personal…
March 2011 Quick Links, Part 3
By Eric Goldman Search Engines * Lots of Google antitrust activity: – Apparently, an EU antitrust investigation IS something that Microsoft would wish on its worst enemy. – Every legal regulator in the world is considering antitrust investigations into Google,…
Republisher of Youthful Sexting Photos Avoids Liability (For Now)–Doe v. Peterson
By Eric Goldman Doe v. Peterson, 2011 WL 1120172 (E.D. Mich. March 24, 2011) This is an interesting sexting lawsuit. Doe took explicit photos of herself and sent them via MySpace to her then-boyfriend. She did not follow my recommendations…
Online Booksellers Get 47 USC 230 Immunity for Publisher-Supplied Marketing Collateral–Parisi v. Sinclair
By Eric Goldman Parisi v. Sinclair, 2011 WL 1206193 (D.C. D.C. March 31, 2011). The complaint. More source documents. Sinclair self-published a book that Parisi believes defamed him. The book showed up in Books-a-Million, B&N and Amazon. All of the…
Ninth Circuit Upholds Anti-SLAPP Ruling for Blogger/Griper–Sedgwick v. Delsman
By Eric Goldman Sedgwick Claims Management Services v. Delsman, 09-16809 (9th Cir. March 21, 2011). Delsman is a blogging griper about Sedgwick. He made some griping material that included cut-and-pasted headshots of Sedgwick’s managers. Sedgwick sued Delsman aggressively. Delsman got…
FTC Online Endorsement Guidelines Strike Again – FTC Dings Legacy Learning Over Allegedly Misleading Affiliate Reviews
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with some comments by Eric] In re Legacy Learning Systems, Inc., FTC File No. 102 3055 [FTC Release] [Complaint (pdf)] An FTC press release notes that the FTC settled with Legacy Learning over allegations that Legacy…
Jan.-Feb. 2011 Quick Links, Part 4
By Eric Goldman Internet Freedom * The EFF points out the inconsistency between Hillary Clinton’s speech championing Internet freedom abroad when our own US government has gone rogue on its own citizens, including unlawful domain name seizures and an obsessive…
Unsuccessful 230(c)(2) Defense for Blog Comment–Mealer v. GMAC
By Eric Goldman Mealer v. GMAC Mortgage LLC, 2011 WL 744895 (D. Ariz. Feb. 24, 2011) Mealer is an automotive entrepreneur. He posted about General Motors to his company blog. He alleges that Kordella, a GM engineer, disparaged Mealer in…
Jan.-Feb. 2011 Quick Links, Part 2
By Eric Goldman Search Engines Google’s search algorithm has been very much in the news the past 2 months! * Google’s announcements: – “Google search and search engine spam” – Matt Cutts explains Google penalties in a video. – “Microsoft’s…
Ripoff Report Gets Another 47 USC 230 Dismissal–Herman v. Xcentric
By Eric Goldman Herman v. Xcentric Ventures, LLC, 1:10-cv-00398-CAP (N.D. Ga. Feb. 14, 2011) This is a run-of-the-mill lawsuit against the Ripoff Report by an unhappy vendor. Herman is a lawyer (once again, the dreaded lawyer-as-plaintiff) unhappy with a posted…