Contributory Cybersquatting and the Impending Demise of Domain Name Proxy Services?–Solid Host v. NameCheap
By Eric Goldman Solid Host, NL v. NameCheap, Inc., 2:08-cv-05414-MMM-E (C.D. Cal. May 19, 2009) Facts This case involves an alleged domain name theft. Solid Host is a web host and initial owner of the domain name solidhost.com, which it…
Q1 2009 Quick Links, Part 4
By Eric Goldman Security * Massachusetts Data Security regulations were amended. * In Facebook v. Power.com, Facebook brought another lawsuit to block extraction of user data from the site (similar to the Facebook v. ConnectU lawsuit). Venkat, Masnick, News.com, NYT,…
Q1 2009 Quick Links, Part 3
By Eric Goldman Blogging and Social Networking Sites * A new version of the EFF Legal Guide to Blogging. While you’re there, consider joining EFF as a member. The EFF does first-rate work, and they can use all the support…
Rip-off Report Lawsuit Updates: Certain Approval Programs and Ecommerce Innovations
By Eric Goldman Certain Approval Program v. Xcentric Certain Approval Programs, L.L.C. v. XCentric Ventures L.L.C., 2009 WL 596582 (D. Ariz. March 9, 2009). I previously blogged about this case in November. This ruling is in response to the plaintiff’s…
Facebook User Agreement Imbroglio Recap (and Some Comments of My Own)
By Eric Goldman I didn’t have a chance to blog on the Facebook user agreement amendment flap in real-time, but now that Facebook has rolled back its amendments and everyone is catching their breath, the Monday morning quarterbacking is proceeding…
The [Non]enforceability of Privacy Promises–Pinero v. Jackson Hewitt
A recent court case reiterates that privacy policies aren’t the be-all, end-all panacea for protecting online privacy. By Ethan Ackerman One of the main arguments against a federal online privacy law has been that website privacy policies were a self-regulatory…
Data Privacy Day at SCU Jan. 28: Erika Rottenberg, LinkedIn GC
By Eric Goldman Please join us for this event being held in conjunction with the Data Privacy Day. Free admission and no RSVP required. Erika is a long-time colleague (dating back to our Cooley Godward days) and I’m very interested…
AOL Loses Venue Selection Dispute in Ninth Circuit Due to an Unfortunate “Of”–Doe 1 v. AOL
By Eric Goldman Doe 1 v. AOL LLC, 2009 WL 103657 (9th Cir. Jan. 16, 2009) This is one of several lawsuits against AOL over AOL’s 2006 posting of a database of improperly anonymized search queries. This particular lawsuit was…
December 2008 Quick Links, Part 2
By Eric Goldman Social Networking Sites/Cyber-Bullying/Sexual Predation * More on the Lori Drew conviction: – Wired has a tough behind-the-scenes look at the Lori Drew jury deliberations. – The jury instructions – In case you missed it, my special three…
November 2008 Quick Links
By Eric Goldman Trademark * NYT: “A handful of new Web sites with names like Typo Bay and Typo Buddy are out to help shoppers save money by searching eBay for misspelled brand names.” In 2005, I blogged that typographical…