Homeowner’s Insurance Policy Doesn’t Apply To Cyberharassment Campaign Allegations–State Farm v. El-Moslimany
This is an insurance coverage dispute arising out of a defamation lawsuit. Sindi sued El-Moslimany in Massachusetts alleging that El-Moslimany engaged in a campaign to “embarrass, humiliate, and destroy” Sindi through perpetuating falsehoods. Sindi describes herself as a scientist, entrepreneur,…
Court Rejects “Browsewrap.” Is That Surprising?–Long v. ProFlowers
Plaintiff ordered “completed assembled” flowers from ProFlowers.com. Rather than being fully assembled flowers, he received a “do-it yourself kit in a box”. He brought a putative class action for unfair competition and CLRA violations. ProFlowers moved to arbitrate based on…
Facebook Isn’t Liable For Fake User Account Containing Non-Consensual Pornography–Caraccioli v. Facebook (Forbes Cross-Post)
Franco Caraccioli is a third-year law student in San Diego. For reasons not explained in the opinion, someone created a fake Facebook account named “Franco Caracciolijerkingman” and posted photos and videos of Caraccioli “sexually arousing or pleasuring himself.” (All facts…
PGA Can Turn Caddies Into ‘Human Billboards’–Hicks v. PGA Tour
As I’ve written before, marketers are in a never-ending quest to find and exploit new ways to capture consumer attention. With the rise of DVR ad-avoidance technologies, marketers keep finding more unskippable broadcast TV ad exposures like product placements. And…
Google Defeats Lawsuit Over Duplicate Content Penalty–D’Agostino v. Appliances Buy Phone
D’Agostino provided web development services to the Appliances Buy Phone (ABP) website. He wanted to sharpen his SEO skills, so he agreed in 2009 with the ABP owners to create a mirror version of ABP, called Appliances4Sale (AFS) as a…
Using Scraper to Harvest Records Isn’t Fraudulent Access Under CFAA–Fidlar v. LPS
Fidlar works with counties to digitize and index land records. It also makes available a software client (Laredo) that allows end users to access these records. Billing is handled by the counties, and counties have monthly access plans. The counties…
Telephony Provider Didn’t Properly Form a “Telephone-Wrap” Contract–James v. Global Tel*Link
Plaintiffs filed a putative class over fees paid for calls made by inmates in New Jersey correctional institutions. At issue is whether they should be required to arbitrate their claims. Defendant, GTL, has the exclusive right to provide phone services…
Ninth Circuit Resolves Two of the Facebook Sponsored Stories Lawsuits
The litigation over Facebook’s sponsored stories occurred what seems like eons ago. Recently, the last of it wrapped up (although the latest ruling is the subject of a petition for rehearing en banc). It generated lots of blog fodder, and…
Google Can Derive Undisclosed Economic Benefits From CAPTCHAs–Rojas-Lozano v. Google
This lawsuit alleges that Google benefits unfairly from consumers’ responses to Google’s CAPTCHA. Plaintiff, a Massachusetts resident, responded to a two word CAPTCHA prompt when signing up for a Gmail accout. She alleged that only one of the two words…
Oculus Faces Messy Ownership Claims Over Its Head Mounted Display–Total Recall v. Luckey
Palmer Luckey, who ultimately developed the much-hyped Oculus Rift, entered into an agreement with a company called “Total Recall”. Although it was not crystal clear, the agreement was technically with Thomas Seidl, one of the partners of Total Recall. The…