Wildcarding Subdomains Is OK; Reverse Domain Name Hijacking Isn’t–Goforit v. Digimedia
By Eric Goldman Goforit Entertainment LLC v. Digimedia.com LP, 2010 WL 4602549 (N.D. Tex. Oct. 25, 2010). See the related personal jurisdiction ruling from 2007 featuring a completely different but still ridiculously large and expensive cast of lawyers. This is…
Amazon Isn’t Liable for Rogue Affiliate’s Keyword Ad Buys–Sellify v. Amazon
By Eric Goldman Sellify Inc. v. Amazon.com, Inc., 2010 WL 4455830 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 4, 2010). The initial complaint. Christopher Maki runs Sellify, which in turn runs a website/eBay store called OneQuality.com. An Amazon affiliate, “Cutting Edge Designs,” purchased the keywords…
Ad Networks Can’t Get 47 USC 230 Defense on Motion to Dismiss–Swift v. Zynga
By Eric Goldman Swift v. Zynga Game Network, Inc., 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117355 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 3, 2010). Wendy Davis’ story on the complaint filing. I have repeatedly observed that the Ninth Circuit’s Roommates.com en banc decision has not…
Plaintiff-Side Briefs in Rosetta Stone v. Google Appeal
By Eric Goldman Rosetta Stone and five amici groups have filed their briefs in the Fourth Circuit appeal in Rosetta Stone v. Google. The filings: Rosetta Stone’s opening appellate brief. It appears Rosetta Stone has new appellate counsel: Terrence Ross…
My RapLeaf Profile is Amusingly Mistaken. This is What the Fuss is All About?
By Eric Goldman The latest in the Wall Street Journal’s “scare journalism” series of privacy articles is a hatchet job on RapLeaf. I don’t know much about RapLeaf, but at conferences, privacy advocates frequently invoke RapLeaf as an omnipotent, omniscient…
Class Action for Misleading Pop-up Ads Against McAfee Survives Motion to Dismiss — Ferrington v. McAfee
[Post by Venkat] Ferrington v. McAfee, Case No. 10-cv-01455-LHK (N.D. Cal. Oct. 5, 2010) There have been a few rulings involving class actions from customers alleging that an online merchant partnered with a third party who improperly piggybacked on to…
Inflatable Giant Gorilla Attacks Google (for Copyright Infringement)–Scherba v. Google
By Eric Goldman Scherba Industries v. Google, Inc., 1:10-cv-02288 (N.D. Ohio complaint filed Oct. 7, 2010). Scherba makes giant inflatable gorillas. See an example. A little improbably, it has a copyright registration for a 3D sculptural work called “Gorilla Inflatable”–the…
September 2010 Quick Links, Part 1 (IP Edition)
By Eric Goldman Copyright * US v. ASCAP (2d Cir. Sept. 28, 2010): “the Internet Companies offer their customers the ability to download musical works over the Internet. It is undisputed that these downloads create copies of the musical works,…
Yelp Wins 47 USC 230 Dismissal of Dentist’s Lawsuit–Reit v. Yelp
By Eric Goldman Reit v. Yelp!, Inc., 2010 WL 3490167 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Sept. 2, 2010) Dr. Glenn Reit is a Manhattan dentist. His Yelp page and website. As of May 2009, the Yelp page had 11 reviews: 10 favorable…
Google Gets Good Results in Three AdWords Trademark Cases (Jurin, Flowbee, Dazzlesmile)
By Eric Goldman Jurin v. Google, 2010 WL 3521955 (E.D. Cal. Sept. 8, 2010) Jurin is one of the multitudinous trademark owners objecting to Google’s AdWords program. Echoing a prior ruling, the court has rejected Jurin’s claims for false designation…