The FCC Proclaims Itself the UDRP for 800 Numbers
By Eric Goldman From Kevin Poulson’s Wired story: An entrepreneur registers 800-RED-CROS[S]. He claims to have done so because it has the same number as 800-RED-ARMS, and he was running a business by that name at the time. When he…
More on Rappers and Car Dealers
By Mark McKenna In the name of not being left out of the interesting discussion about Snoop Dogg’s trademark lawsuit against Gary Barbera (not to be confused with Hannah Barbara, of Flintstones fame), I thought I would put in my…
Rappers, Car Dealers and Trademarks — John Weighs In
By John Ottaviani Eric and I have been debating the claims in the 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg cases, and whether there can be trademark like protection for “speech patterns.” Not surprisingly, as one who likes “non-traditional” trademarks, I am…
Rappers, Car Dealer Ads, and Expansive Interpretations of Trademark Law
By Eric Goldman Broadus v. Gary Barbera Enterprises, Inc. (E.D. Pa. complaint filed Aug. 2005). Ten days ago I blogged about the rapper 50 Cent’s lawsuit against the Gary Barbera dealership for running a car ad that showed a picture…
Jill, Meet Best Buy’s Friendly Human Shopbot/Profiler
I’m a little surprised this article hasn’t generated more discussion. Last week, the Washington Post ran an article about Best Buy’s efforts to segment and target its customer base. They have developed a set of consumer profiles that they describe…
2004 Case on Advertiser Liability for Spam
Fenn v. Redmond Venture, Inc., 2004 UT App 355 (Utah Ct. App. Oct. 15, 2004). I was digging through my stack and stumbled across this case from last year. It seems apropos to a running theme on this blog about…
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…
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…
Are Adware Advertisers Responsible for Adware?
The topic of “who is responsible for what?” in the adware industry keeps coming up. I’ve repeatedly blogged on this topic in somewhat piecemeal fashion, but I finally organized my thoughts into an editorial that ran this morning in News.com….
FTC Cracks Down on Porn Spam
The FTC has brought enforcement actions against seven companies for violating failing to include the “SEXUALLY-EXPLICIT” label on emails where such labels are required under CAN-SPAM and the implementing FTC regulations (as well as other violations of CAN-SPAM). Four of…