Court Finds Webloyalty Rewards Program Disclaimers Sufficient to Defeat Misrepresentation Claims — Berry v. Webloyalty

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Berry v. Webloyalty.com, Inc., et al., 10-CV-1358-H (CAB) (S.D. Cal.; Apr. 11, 2011) This is another online membership program case. Plaintiff purchased tickets from movietickets.com using his debit card. He alleges that he was offered a…

Intelius Dodges a Bullet Over Allegedly Deceptive Online Marketing Practices — Hook v. Intelius

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Hook v. Intelius, 10-CV-239(MTT) (M.D. Ga.; Mar. 28, 1011) I mentioned a class action in Washington against Intelius over its online sales practices in a couple of weeks ago. (“Intelius May be Liable for Deceptive Online…

StubHub Denied Section 230 Defense in Scalping Case–Hill v. StubHub

By Eric Goldman Hill v. StubHub, Inc., 2011 WL 1675043 (N.C. Super. Ct. Feb. 28, 2011). My previous blog post in this case. This is a putative class action lawsuit against StubHub for violating North Carolina’s anti-scalping laws, which both…

March 2011 Quick Links, Part 2

By Eric Goldman Trademark * Apple is on the road to CrazyTown with its attempt to secure and protect trademark rights in “App Store.” Among the “highlights” this month: – it sued Amazon. Marty’s comments. The Justia page. – Microsoft…

Online Booksellers Get 47 USC 230 Immunity for Publisher-Supplied Marketing Collateral–Parisi v. Sinclair

By Eric Goldman Parisi v. Sinclair, 2011 WL 1206193 (D.C. D.C. March 31, 2011). The complaint. More source documents. Sinclair self-published a book that Parisi believes defamed him. The book showed up in Books-a-Million, B&N and Amazon. All of the…

Trademark Owner Gets Injunction Against Keyword Ad Campaign That Generated No Sales for the Advertiser

By Eric Goldman InternetShopsInc.com v. Six C Consulting, Inc., 2011 WL 1113445 (N.D. Ga. March 24, 2011) [I know the headline sounds like an April Fools joke, but no April Fools here…although, as I will show, this case definitely involved…

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…

Intelius May be Liable for Deceptive Online Marketing Practices Based on Third Party Transaction at Checkout — Keithly v. Intelius

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Keithly v. Intelius, No. C09-1485RSL (W.D. Wash.; Feb. 08, 2011) A district court judge in Washington held that Intelius could potentially be held liable for allegedly deceptive marketing practices based on its making available third party…

Jan.-Feb. 2011 Quick Links, Part 3 (Trademarks, Domain Names and Trade Secrets Edition)

By Eric Goldman Trademarks and Domain Names * From my perspective, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) domain name seizures are one of the US government’s top 5 all-time worst assaults on the Internet’s integrity. DHS’s ICE division is grabbing…

eBay’s Venue Selection Clause Upheld in Missouri–Earll v. eBay

By Eric Goldman Earll v. eBay, 2011 WL 497781 (W.D. Mo. Jan. 4, 2011). The initial complaint. Earll, who is deaf, sued eBay for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the CA state law analogue. Her complaint…