Second Circuit Says Google’s Keyword Ad Sales May Be Use in Commerce–Rescuecom v. Google
By Eric Goldman Rescuecom Corp. v. Google Inc., 562 F.3d 123 (2d Cir. April 3, 2009) The Second Circuit has issued its long-anticipated opinion in Rescuecom v. Google over Google’s sale of trademarked keywords as ad triggers. In a disappointing…
Web Host Convicted of State Child Porn Crimes Despite 230–People v. Gourlay
By Eric Goldman People v. Gourlay, 2009 WL 529216 (Mich. App. Ct. March 3, 2009) Hot on the heels of the Cook County Sheriff’s publicity stunt filing against Craigslist, we get an interesting but complicated ruling exploring the application of…
“Locate Plastic Surgeon” Trademark Registrant Brings Dubious Enforcement Action–Ezzo v. Google
By Eric Goldman Ezzo v. Google, 2:09-CV-00159 (M.D. Fla. complaint filed March 17, 2009). The Justia page. I’m suffering ennui about blogging pro se lawsuits against companies like Google. Most of them are completely unmeritorious and poorly expressed, so they…
Soccer Coach Shut Out in Message Board Lawsuit–Joyner v. Lazzareschi
By Eric Goldman Joyner v. Lazzareschi, 2009 WL 695539 (Cal. App. Ct. March 18, 2009) Joyner is a Southern California soccer coach who merged two girls soccer teams into one, a decision that sparked a near-riot in the local girls…
Union Isn’t Liable for Members’ Postings to Union Message Board–Raggi v. Las Vegas Police
By Eric Goldman Raggi v. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Dept., 2009 WL 653000 (D. Nev. March 10, 2009) Unexpectedly, we’re celebrating union week at the Technology & Marketing Law Blog. Earlier this week, I blogged that union organizers aren’t liable…
IEEE ComSoc SCV Talk: “Engineers’ Role in Internet Law Development”
By Eric Goldman Last week, I gave a talk at a meeting of the IEEE Communications Society, Santa Clara Valley chapter. I don’t often get the chance to speak to a group of engineers, so I decided to go in…
Rip-off Report Lawsuit Updates: Certain Approval Programs and Ecommerce Innovations
By Eric Goldman Certain Approval Program v. Xcentric Certain Approval Programs, L.L.C. v. XCentric Ventures L.L.C., 2009 WL 596582 (D. Ariz. March 9, 2009). I previously blogged about this case in November. This ruling is in response to the plaintiff’s…
The Third Wave of Internet Exceptionalism
By Eric Goldman [I initially wrote this as an editorial for our University magazine and republished that version through InformIT as well. Here’s the original unedited version I submitted.] From the beginning, the Internet has been viewed as something special…
Cook County Sheriff Sues Craigslist for Erotic Services Category
By Eric Goldman Dart v. Craigslist, Inc., 09-CV-1385 (N.D. Ill. complaint filed March 5, 2009) Dart, the Cook County, Illinois sheriff, has sued Craigslist in federal court for creating a “public nuisance” because its “Erotic Services” category facilitates prostitution. Unfortunately…
Utah Trying to Regulate Keyword Advertising….Again!? Utah HB 450
By Eric Goldman When I first heard that the Utah legislature is considering yet another law to regulate keyword advertising, I thought: Are you kidding me? After all, Utah has pursued these regulations twice with disastrous results. The first time,…