Groupon Hit With Two Lanham Act Lawsuits, and One Takes Google Along for the Ride
By Eric Goldman Groupion, LLC v. Groupon, Inc., 3:11-cv-00870-EMC (N.D. Cal. complaint filed Feb. 24, 2011) San Francisco Comprehensive Tours, LLC v. Groupon, Inc., CV-1300 (N.D. Cal. complaint filed March 17, 2011) __________ A company doesn’t reach a purported $6B…
Yelp Beats “Implied Extortion”/”Pay-to-Play” Lawsuit in Round #1–Levitt v. Yelp
By Eric Goldman Levitt v. Yelp, 3:10-cv-01321-MHP (N.D. Cal. Mar. 22, 2011). See the motion to dismiss, the opposition and the reply. This ruling deals with the Second Amended Complaint. Levitt’s initial complaint. Cats & Dogs Animal Hospital’s first amended…
Photo Hosting Site Gets DMCA 512 Safe Harbor–Wolk v. Photobucket
By Eric Goldman Wolk v. Kodak Imaging Network, Inc., 2011 WL 940056 (S.D.N.Y. March 17, 2011) Wolk (is this her?) is a visual artist whose work was allegedly infringed on Photobucket. She sent some 512(c)(3) takedown notices to Photobucket, which…
47 USC 230 Retrospective Conference Recap
By Eric Goldman Earlier this month, we had a major academic event on 47 USC 230. My notes are especially incomplete because I had lots of administrative duties that day. I didn’t get any usable notes from the introductory sessions…
FTC Online Endorsement Guidelines Strike Again – FTC Dings Legacy Learning Over Allegedly Misleading Affiliate Reviews
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with some comments by Eric] In re Legacy Learning Systems, Inc., FTC File No. 102 3055 [FTC Release] [Complaint (pdf)] An FTC press release notes that the FTC settled with Legacy Learning over allegations that Legacy…
Jury Awards Damages Against Web Designer/SEO/Host on Contributory Trademark Infringement Theory–Roger Cleveland v. Prince
By Eric Goldman Roger Cleveland Golf Co. v. Prince, 2:09-cv-02119-MBS (D.S.C. jury verdict March 10, 2011 and judgment March 14, 2011). See also the jury instructions. I blogged about this case back in December. That ruling was a puzzling head-scratcher…
How 47 USC 230 Improves Marketplace Efficiency
By Eric Goldman I have been working on a draft article currently titled “In Defense of 47 USC 230” (I’m probably going to change the name). As part of our 15 year retrospective of 47 USC 230, I presented a…
Stanford Technology Law Review Symposium on Secondary IP Liability
By Eric Goldman Last week we had a cyberlaw-fiesta in the Silicon Valley, the likes of which have been rarely (if ever) seen before. The Stanford Technology Law Review hosted a symposium on Thursday on Internet intermediary liability, then we…
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…