Craigslist Sued for Fair Housing Act Violation–Chicago Lawyers Committee v. Craigslist

By Eric Goldman Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Inc. v. Craigslist, Inc., Case No. 06C-0657 (N.D. Ill. complaint filed Feb. 3, 2006) Craigslist, the free online classified site, has been sued by a group of lawyers for…

Checking Your Spamming Burdens at the Dormant Commerce Clause/Jurisdiction Doors?

An update on the disjointed state of state spam law cases By Ethan Ackerman Despite the passage of the federal CAN-SPAM Act in 2003, state spam laws continue to be enforced by states, and it appears private litigation under them…

New Year Brings New 47 USC 230 Defense Win–Whitney Information Network v. Verio

By Eric Goldman Whitney Information Network, Inc. v. Verio, Inc., 2006 WL 66724 (M.D. Fla. Jan. 11, 2006). 2005 was a great year for 47 USC 230 defense wins, so why not ring in 2006 with yet another? In this…

Web Term Paper Lawsuit Settles

By Eric Goldman In September, I blogged about Macellari v. Carroll. In that case, a student sued a website that allegedly offered her term paper for sale. The case has settled under a confidentiality cloak (registration required). However, a defendant…

47 USC 230 Year-in-Review (and Landry-Bell v. Various, Another Defense Win)

By Eric Goldman Landry-Bell v. Various December was a busy month for 47 USC 230 cases (with at least 4 substantive rulings plus 1 procedural ruling). The latest case to emerge from the year-end rush is Landry-Bell v. Various, Inc.,…

RipoffReport.com Loses 47 USC 230 Motion to Dismiss–Hy Cite v. badbusinessbureau.com

By Eric Goldman Hy Cite Corp. v. badbusinessbureau.com, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38082 (D. Ariz. Dec. 27, 2005) This is the third 47 USC 230 ruling involving badbusinessbureau.com/RipoffReport.com. The first two were: * MCW, Inc. v. Badbusinessbureau.com, L.L.C., 2004 WL…

Web Host Wins 230 Defense–Austin v. CrystalTech Web Hosting

By Eric Goldman Austin v. CrystalTech Web Hosting, 2005 WL 3489249 (Ariz. App. Div. Dec. 22, 2005) I can’t decide if defense wins under 230 are still worth blogging. Personally, I find them fascinating–I get a certain voyeuristic thrill watching…

Google Sued for Trademark Infringement Based on Third Level Subdomain–Jews for Jesus v. Google

By Eric Goldman Jews for Jesus v. Google, Inc., 05-CV-10684 (SDNY complaint filed Dec. 21, 2005) It’s no surprise that Google has been sued again for trademark infringement, but the basis of this lawsuit is surprising. Rather than another lawsuit…

City of Heroes Lawsuits Settled

By Eric Goldman A complex but interesting legal fight between Marvel and NCSoft, about City of Heroes players generating characters that look like Marvel-owned characters, has come to an end. The press release announcing the settlement. Settlement terms were not…

4th Circuit Upholds Internet Flame War Lawsuit Dismissal on 230 Grounds–Winter v. Bassett

Winter v. Bassett, No. 03-2176 (4th Cir. Dec. 12, 2005) This lawsuit involves one of those oh-so-messy Internet flame wars/personal disputes that prompted the creation of an anti-Steve Winter website. Winter then sued a variety of people, including the web…