‘Flash Sale’ Website Defeats Class Action Claim With Mandatory Arbitration Clause–Starke v. Gilt
This is a straightforward ruling, but I liked it because it nicely illustrates what’s happening in the field and the courts right now. Gilt Groupe runs the “flash sale” website Gilt.com. I know some folks love these sites but I’ve…
How To Get Your Clickthrough Agreement Enforced In Court–Moretti v. Hertz
So, by now, you know that if you want an enforceable online agreement, you need to implement it as a mandatory clickthrough. With that settled, it’s time to address an advanced topic: what evidence can you offer a judge to…
Some Thoughts On General Mills’ Move To Mandate Arbitration And Waive Class Actions
I sent the following email to a reporter covering the fallout from General Mills’ amended legal terms to mandate arbitration and the The New York Times’ coverage, When ‘Liking’ a Brand Online Voids the Right to Sue (and see the…
Revenge Porn Is Bad, But It’s Not GoDaddy’s Fault (Forbes Cross-Post)
Revenge porn is odious, but so is a judge’s disregard for a federal law. In a lawsuit by revenge porn victims over the controversial revenge porn website Texxxan.com, a Texas state trial court had ruled that Texxxan’s web host, GoDaddy,…
Court Rules That Kids Can Be Bound By Facebook’s Member Agreement
The status of kids’ ability to form contracts via online terms of service was somewhat uncertain over the last several years, with a few Facebook-related rulings raising questions. A group of minor plaintiffs who opted out of the Fraley v. Facebook…
Ninth Circuit Rejects Plaintiffs’ Bad Misreadings of eBay’s User Agreement–Block v. eBay
Even after all of these years, I remain amazed by the bizarre contract misinterpretations that plaintiffs’ lawyers are capable of. Today’s case targeted the eBay user agreement, a document of special interest to me given my contributions to the agreement…
Court Spoils “Banana Lady’s” Appeal Over Online Recordings of Her Act
Catherine Conrad is the “Banana Lady” (see her Facebook photos) who delivers singing birthday telegrams. I didn’t know such things still exist, but perhaps they do in the Midwest (she’s based in the Madison, Wisconsin area). For reasons the court…
CafePress May Not Qualify For 512 Safe Harbor – Gardner v. CafePress
Gardner is a wildlife photographer. He sued CafePress and Beverly Teall alleging that Teall sold a product through CafePress displaying one of Gardner’s images. While only one image was at issue in the operative complaint, prior to mediation, plaintiff’s counsel…
Court Blesses Instagram’s Right to Unilaterally Amend Its User Agreement–Rodriguez v. Instagram
Instagram revised its terms of service in December 2012. The revisions (1) stated that Instagram was disclaiming “ownership of content” posted by users, as opposed to disclaiming “any ownership rights in content” posted by users; (2) broadened the scope of…
Employer Who Takes Over Employee’s Social Media Accounts May Commit Privacy Violation–Maremont v Susan Fredman Design
We’ve blogged about the dispute between Maremont and Susan Fredman Design Group before. Maremont was employed as SFDG’s social media consultant, and when she was injured in a severe accident, SFDG allegedly continued to access (1) a Twitter account registered…