New 47 USC 230 case–Roskowski v. Corvallis Police Officers’ Association
Roskowski v. Corvallis Police Officers’ Association, 2005 WL 555398 (D. Ore. Mar. 9, 2005). Messy disputes between the former Corvallis Chief of Police and the police officer’s association. The Association set up a website to disseminate its gripes with the…
Copy of Marvel v. NCSoft Ruling
CE Petit has posted a copy of the court’s March 9 opinion in Marvel Enterprises v. NCSoft Corporation (CV 04-9253-RGK). The opinion is rather unremarkable—mostly it deals with motions to dismiss, so the standard for upholding the pleadings is pretty…
Ruling in Marvel v. NCSoft
NCSoft has won some favorable rulings in its lawsuit with Marvel. Marvel sued NCSoft because users could use NCSoft’s software in its City of Heroes MMORPG to generate characters that looked like Marvel characters. From the news/press reports, it appears…
Another Dumb Utah Law
The Utah Legislature is at it again. (See my critique of their efforts to regulate spyware/provide some extra bucks for a few local companies at the expense of free competition). The Utah legislature has passed another sloppy and ill-conceived law…
More Amicus Briefs in MGM v. Grokster
Yesterday was the deadline for respondents’ briefs in MGM v. Grokster. So far, EFF’s website shows 18 amicus briefs filed in the case on respondents’ side, making for a total of 46 amicus briefs. I joined the brief drafted by…
Copyright Case on Photos and Descriptions
SMC Promotions, Inc. v. SMC Promotions, 2005 WL 292492 (C.D. Cal. Feb. 7, 2005). Plaintiff is a product distributor that relies on affiliate marketing. Plaintiff grants a copyright license to affiliates to use catalog photos and descriptions on the affiliates’…
Pornmeister Liable for Affiliate’s Spam
A settlement involving Sobonito Investments, a Cyprus pornmeister that used an affiliate marketing scheme to generate traffic. The affiliates engaged in bad email practices, and the advertiser was put on the hook. This situation is clearly covered by CAN-SPAM but…
Amicus Briefs in MGM v. Grokster
If you haven’t checked it out, 28 amici briefs have been filed so far in the MGM v. Grokster case, including three different briefs led by law professors. I find it particularly interesting that Sen. Leahy and Hatch submitted a…