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…
“Consumer Reviews of Doctors and Copyright Law” Talk Notes
By Eric Goldman You may recall that Medical Justice is a vendor trying to help doctors squelch online patient reviews–most recently by getting a prospective copyright assignment of the unwritten reviews and then sending 512(c)(3) takedown notices for any unwanted…
Business Sues Facebook to Restore Its Fan Page–Complexions v. Complexions Day Spa
By Eric Goldman Complexions Inc. v. Complexions Day Spa and Wellness Center, Inc., 1:11-cv-00197-GLS -DRH (NDNY complaint filed Feb. 18, 2011) The primary litigants are two identically named but geographically separated day spas. It appears they are colliding online. This…
Florida Court Fixes Erroneous 47 USC 230 Ruling–Giordano v. Romeo
By Eric Goldman Giordano v. Romeo, 09-68539 CA 25 (Fla. Cir. Ct. Feb. 18, 2011) I previously blogged about this case last month. Romeo posted a report to the Ripoff Report but, after being sued, later asked to have it…
Google Suffers Surprising Preliminary Loss in Keyword Advertising Case–Jurin v. Google
By Eric Goldman Jurin v. Google, 2011 WL 572300 (E.D Cal. Feb. 15, 2011) A surprising ruling! You may recall Jurin, trademark owner of the term “styrotrim.” He sued Google in summer 2009, but quickly dismissed the lawsuit after he…
Quirky 47 USC 230 Case Still Results in Defense Win–Coppage v. U-Haul
By Eric Goldman Coppage v. U-Haul International, Inc., 2011 WL 519227 (SDNY Feb. 15, 2011) The facts are garbled, but the plaintiff rented a vehicle from U-Haul and apparently suffered an injury he attributes to the vehicle. He also names…
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…
Microsoft Adopts Google-Style Trademark Policy for Keyword Advertising
By Eric Goldman I have gotten several emails relaying this announcement from Microsoft: We are writing to alert you to some pending changes to the trademark policy within the Microsoft Advertising adCenter Intellectual Property Guidelines. Starting March 3, 2011, adCenter…
Defamation, False Information & 47 USC 230 Talk Slides
By Eric Goldman Earlier this week, I spoke at a PLI event, “Social Media 2011: Addressing Corporate Risks,” on the topic of “Defamation, False Information and 47 USC 230” (this link takes you to the talk slides). I tried to…