March 2010 Quick Links
By Eric Goldman Internet Exceptionalism * Stern v. Sony Corp., CV 09-7710 PA (C.D. Cal. Feb. 8 2010) “to the extent Plaintiff is suing Sony as a manufacturer of video games, and the provider of online services, Sony is not…
Google Gets Favorable ECJ Opinion, But Will It Prove to Be a Hollow Victory?
By Eric Goldman The European Court of Justice issued its long-anticipated decision in the three Google AdWords cases (C-236/08, C-237-08 and C-238/08) referred to it by the French Cour de Cassation. The ruling only answers the questions posed to it…
Plaintiff Wins $7,000 Following Bench Trial on Claims Under California Anti-Spam Statute — Balsam v. Trancos
[Post by Venkat] Balsam v. Trancos, Inc., Cal Sup. Ct. Case No. (Civ.) 471791; March 10, 2010 [scribd] Although spam lawsuits have not gone particularly well for individual (non-ISP) plaintiffs, Dan Balsam recently took a case to trial in San…
Stratton Faxon v. Google Dismissed
By Eric Goldman Stratton Faxon v. Google, Inc., NNH-CV-09-5031219S (Conn. Superior Ct. dismissed March 8, 2010) Stratton Faxon v. Google was always an oddball case in the constellation of trademark owner challenges to Google AdWords. First, the plaintiff–a law firm…
Crowdsourced Ads May Not Be Protected by 47 USC 230–Subway v. Quiznos
By Eric Goldman Doctor’s Associates, Inc. v. QIP Holders LLC, 2010 WL 669870 (D. Conn. Feb. 19, 2010). My prior post on this case. As a long-time vegetarian (over a quarter-century), I find America’s obsession with “more meat” competitions simultaneously…
Eighth Circuit: No Derivative Liability Under Iowa Spam Statute — Kramer v. Bartok
[Post by Venkat] Kramer v. Bartok, Case No. 08-3841 (8th Cir. Feb. 19, 2010) (scribd link). The Eighth Circuit recently reversed an award of $236 million in damages against a spam defendant based on a theory of secondary liability. The…
February 2010 Quick Links
By Eric Goldman Copyright * Mavericks Recording Co. v. Harper (5th Cir. Feb. 25, 2010). 17 USC 402(d) precludes an innocent infringement defense in P2P downloading case when the record companies place proper copyright notices on their works. This is…
Google AdWords Contract Upheld Again, Causing a Venue Transfer in Flowbee v. Google
By Eric Goldman Flowbee International, Inc. v. Google, Inc., 4:10-cv-00668-LB (S.D. Tex. Feb. 8, 2010). My post on Flowbee’s initial complaint. Google has successfully transferred Flowbee v. Google from Texas to California by invoking the venue selection clause in its…
Google Hit With Another Antitrust Lawsuit. Does It Have Microsoft Ties? Google v. myTriggers
By Eric Goldman Google, Inc v. myTriggers.com, Inc., 09 CV 14836 (Franklin County Ct. of Common Pleas, Ohio). Google filed its first amended complaint on January 20, 2010. myTriggers filed an answer with counterclaims on February 2, 2010. See both…
January 2010 Quick Links
By Eric Goldman Copyright * An English translation of Google’s December loss in France on a Google Book Search lawsuit. * Ed Felten reports on a survey of files available via BitTorrent. Acknowledging some methodological limits, he estimates ~99% were…