Court Rejects VPPA Claim Against Viacom and Google Based on Failure to Disclose Identity

I blogged before about the privacy lawsuit against Viacom and Google over the disclosure of the viewing habits of minors. The court previously rejected the claims on the basis that the disclosure of user attributes (such as demographic information, unique…

No Personal Jurisdiction Over Nasty Facebook Post--Burdick v. Superior Court

No Personal Jurisdiction Over Nasty Facebook Post–Burdick v. Superior Court

Let me see if I can sum up all of my knowledge about Internet jurisdiction in a few pithy bullet points: * Motions to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction often lose, so why should we get too wrapped up…

Safeway Can't Unilaterally Modify Online Terms Without Notice

Safeway Can’t Unilaterally Modify Online Terms Without Notice

This is a lawsuit against Safeway alleging that it charges slightly different (and higher) prices for items ordered online than purchased in-store. The court previously denied Safeway’s motion to dismiss and now grants summary judgment in favor of plaintiffs on…

Appeals Court: Accepting Lawyer's Prove-me-Wrong Challenge Does not Form a Contract

Appeals Court: Accepting Lawyer’s Prove-me-Wrong Challenge Does not Form a Contract

This is a great case where a defense lawyer made a passing statement that his client could not have committed a murder he was charged with due to the sheer impossibility of traveling logistics. The Defendant was spotted via surveillance…

eBay Isn't Liable for Selling Recalled Merchandise--Hinton v. Amazon

eBay Isn’t Liable for Selling Recalled Merchandise–Hinton v. Amazon

Due to Section 230, eBay generally isn’t liable when its merchants sell problematic goods. I believe the earliest ruling establishing this proposition is Stoner v. eBay, a 2000 case over bootleg recordings. More recently, in 2011, a court held that…

Creditors Can't Seize Country Code Top Level Domains

Creditors Can’t Seize Country Code Top Level Domains

This is a ruling addressing plaintiffs’ ability to levy against a country code top level domain (TLD). Plaintiffs obtained judgments against the Islamic Republic of Iran, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and Syrian Arab Republic. They sought to attach defendants’…

Venue Clause in YouTube Terms of Service Upheld--Song Fi v. Google

Venue Clause in YouTube Terms of Service Upheld–Song Fi v. Google

This is a dispute over YouTube’s takedown of a music video. Song Fi, along with Rasta Rock, Joeseph Brotherton, and his six year old son, sued YouTube for taking down their video titled “LuvYa LuvYa LuvYa.” YouTube said it removed…

Equivocal Email Exchanges Don't Transfer Copyright Ownership

Equivocal Email Exchanges Don’t Transfer Copyright Ownership

The Tjeknavorians collaborated with Mardirossian to make a film about the Armenian genocide. They never signed a paper agreement, although they had a bunch of correspondence regarding the film. Mardirossian contributed funds to the project on an ongoing basis (up…

Lawsuit Against Google Over In-App Purchases By Minors Squeaks Past Motion to Dismiss

Lawsuit Against Google Over In-App Purchases By Minors Squeaks Past Motion to Dismiss

This is a lawsuit against Google over in-app purchases made by minor children, reminiscent of a similar lawsuit against Apple. Plaintiff on behalf of a putative class alleged that, among other things, Google allowed someone to make a purchase for…

What's a Browsewrap? The Ninth Circuit Sure Doesn't Know--Nguyen v. Barnes & Noble

What’s a Browsewrap? The Ninth Circuit Sure Doesn’t Know–Nguyen v. Barnes & Noble

This is a lawsuit over Barnes & Noble’s alleged failure to honor its closeout advertisements for Hewlett-Packard Touchpads. (Coverage of the district court ruling here: “Barnes & Noble’s Online Contract Formation Process Fails–Nguyen v. Barnes & Noble.” Plaintiff (Nguyen) placed an…