Blog Content Aggregation, RSS Feeds and Copyright Law
At Search Engine Strategies, we discussed the problem of aggregators and spammers taking blog content and using it to build aggregation pages (with AdSense links, naturally) that compete with the source blog for traffic. In some cases, these aggregation pages…
McDonald’s is Lovin’ It! — Contest Rules Upheld
By John Ottaviani James v. McDonald’s Corp., No. 04-2383 (7th Cir. 8/2/2005). This is not a technology case per se, unless scratch-off game cards that accompany french fry orders are considered “technology.” However, the contract principles that underlie this case…
Google Sued (Again!) for Overcharging Advertisers
CLRB Hanson Industries LLC v. Google, Inc., Case No. 1-05-CV-046409 (Cal. Superior Ct. complaint filed August 3, 2005). Advertisers, including radio personality Howard Stern, have filed a new class-action lawsuit against Google for overcharging in AdWords. This represents the third…
FTC Says No Undisclosed Adware? In the Matter of Advertising.com
In the Matter of Advertising.com, Inc., and John Ferber, Federal Trade Commission File No. 042-3196 (consent order announced Aug. 3, 2005). The FTC is signaling that it is sending a “message” with this case. The only problem? I’m not sure…
New Case Law Lists
Sorry for the catch-all posting, but I have uploaded several new resources to my website: A list of online contracts cases (emphasizing, in particular, online contract formation). A list of online service provider liability cases (copyright, trademark, 47 USC 230)….
Teaching Contract Drafting Presentation
I’m giving a talk tomorrow at Northwestern Law School about my experiences teaching a course called Contract Drafting. A preview of my notes from my talk.
Lane’s Gift Click Fraud Complaint
Lane’s Gifts and Collectibles LLC v. Yahoo! Inc., Case No. CV-2005-52-1 (Ark. Cir. Ct. complaint filed Feb. 17, 2005). After parsing the Click Defense complaint last week, I was finally able to get my hands on one of the complaints…
Class Action Settlement in Electronic Databases Case–Should I Participate?
In re. Literary Works in Electronic Databases Copyright Litigation, M.D.L. No. 1379 (SDNY). This case involves the republication of print articles in electronic databases like Westlaw and Nexis without authorization (part of the fallout from Tasini and similar cases). The…
Study on User Consent and Spyware
Stopping Spyware at the Gate: A User Study of Privacy, Notice and Spyware by Nathaniel Good et al. I’ve already lauded this study after I heard Deirdre Mulligan present the findings at the Boalt Spyware conference in April. If we…
Click Fraud Lawsuit–Click Defense v. Google
Click Defense Inc. v. Google, Inc., No. 5:05-cv-02579-RMW (N.D. Cal. complaint filed June 24, 2005). This is the second major lawsuit again Google for click fraud, following on the Lane’s Gift case filed a few months ago. I have yet…