Court Won't Order Google To Lift Manual Block For 'Thin Content'--ICF v. Google

ICF provides web hosting services to hundreds of pornography websites. Google allegedly manually blocked these sites for spam, characterizing them as having “thin content,” which Google defines as “providing internet content that has little or no value to end-users.” The…

National Advertising Division (NAD) Doesn’t Consider Section 230 Defenses

In October, I spoke at the National Advertising Division’s (NAD) annual conference on a panel about Section 230 and advertiser liability for user-generated content (UGC). [Sorry for my delay posting this recap]. A paradigmatic example is a Facebook brand page…

Court Accepts Narrow View of CAN-SPAM Preemption but Ultimately Dismisses Claims – Davison Design v. Riley

This is a lawsuit over spam emails. I know, it’s 2013, but bear with me. Riley sent a demand letter alleging that numerous emails sent by or on behalf of plaintiff violated California’s spam statute. Plaintiff turned around and filed…

Revenge Porn Plot Leads To Criminal Conviction--New York v. Piznarski (Forbes Cross-Post)

Recently, the California Attorney General’s office got a lot of attention for arresting Kevin Bollaert, the alleged operator of a revenge porn website. While the arrest was widely popular, it raised many questions. Why did the prosecutors seemingly stretch to…

Should We Cheer The California Attorney General's Revenge Porn Arrest--Or Find It Alarming? (Forbes Cross-Post)

The California Attorney General’s office announced the arrest of Kevin Christopher Bollaert for his role in a revenge porn scheme. Most folks are cheering the arrest for understandable reasons: revenge porn is odious, especially when victims must pay to remove…

Prosecutor Makes Ill-Advised Tweets During Criminal Case--State v. Polk

Polk was convicted of assaulting an 11 year old some 20 years after the event, in part based on DNA evidence. The prosecutor (@JenniferJoyceCA) tweeted about the case during the trial: Circuit Attorney Jennifer M. Joyce repeatedly used her Twitter…

SPEECH Act Defendant Gets $48,000 In Attorneys' Fees--Trout Point Lodge Ltd. v. Handshoe

The SPEECH Act combats libel tourism, the process of trying to enforce an international defamation ruling in the United States if the ruling isn’t consistent with U.S. law. The leading SPEECH Act case is Trout Point Lodge Ltd. v. Handshoe….

Police Officer’s Facebook Post Criticizing Her Boss Isn't Protected Speech--Graziosi v. Greenville

Graziosi was a Sergeant of the Greenville Police Department. She alleges she was wrongfully discharged due to comments she posted to Facebook. She posted the following to her page and to the “Elect Chuck Jordan Mayor” page: I just found out…

Introductory note: today Santa Clara University hosted “Balancing Privacy and Opportunity in the Internet Age,” An Informational Hearing of the Assembly Judiciary Committee, the Assembly Business, Professions & Consumer Protection Committee, and the Assembly Select Committee on Privacy. My prior…

Facebook Complaints About Boss's Creepy Hands Can't Salvage Retaliation/Harassment Claims

DeBord worked for Mercy Health systems. Some five years into her tenure, she wrote several Facebook posts during work hours complaining about her boss, Weaver: [at 900am] Sara DeBord loves it when my boss adds an extra $600.00 on my…