MySpace.com Sued for $30 Million
By John E. Ottaviani (Eric Goldman is relocating his family to California this week and next, and will be able to post only occasionally. In his absence, John Ottaviani will continue to guest blog from time to time.) It was…
Online Message Board Protected by 47 USC 230–DiMeo v. Max
By Eric Goldman DiMeo v. Max, No. 06-1544 (E.D. Pa. May 26, 2006) In my world, it’s not a party until someone spills something. But in Anthony DiMeo’s world, it appears that it’s not a party until someone brings a…
Teenager Busted for Creating Fake “News” Story
By Eric Goldman It seems like every day there are new stories about teenagers doing stupid things online, but this story still struck me as interesting and unusual. The incident involves a website, Cheezus.com, that asks the user to submit…
Google Sued for Child Porn–Toback v. Google
By Eric Goldman Toback v. Google, Inc., No. 06-007246 (NY Sup. Ct. complaint filed May 4, 2006) Yet another legislator has seized the public microphone to grandstand about Internet threats. This time the lucky legislator is Jeffrey Toback, a member…
Parental Liability for Kids’ Copyright Infringement
By Eric Goldman Somehow I missed this excellent memo by EFF on parental liability for kids’ infringement, particularly in the context of RIAA music file-sharing lawsuits. The memo discusses the boundaries of parents’ liability for contributory and vicarious infringement. The…
Advertiser Not Liable for Spam–Hypertouch v. Kennedy-Western University
By Eric Goldman Hypertouch, Inc. v. Kennedy-Western University, No. 3:04-cv-05203-SI (N.D. Cal. Mar. 8, 2006) This is another in a series of CAN-SPAM lawsuits filed by Hypertouch, which apparently has entered the CAN-SPAM plaintiff business. I blogged on one of…
WSJ Debate on Advertiser Liability for Adware
By Eric Goldman Today, the Wall Street Journal published an email debate between me and Ari Schwartz of the Center for Democracy and Technology about advertiser responsibility for adware. Regular blog readers know that this has been a hot button…
Database Publisher Gets 230 Defense–Prickett v. infoUSA
By Eric Goldman Prickett v. infoUSA, Inc., 2006 WL 887431 (E.D. Tex. Mar. 30, 2006) infoUSA publishes a variety of factual databases, including a directory of businesses. Among other data collection techniques, infoUSA permits anyone to submit directory listings through…
Yahoo Loses 230 Defense for its Dating Site–Anthony v. Yahoo
By Eric Goldman Anthony v. Yahoo! Inc., 2006 WL 708572 (N.D. Cal. March 17, 2006) Anthony subscribed to Yahoo’s dating subscription services. He claims that Yahoo creates false personal profiles and retains expired profiles to make the subscription service look…
NY Enforcement Actions for Reselling Emails in Breach of Privacy Policy
By Eric Goldman Gratis Internet runs several websites that promise free stuff (like free iPods) in exchange for consumers signing up for subscription trials. The trials are initially free but then convert to paid subscriptions. The idea is that many…