[Post by Venkat] The “spam filter ate my electronic filing notice” excuse was an inevitable byproduct of the CM/ECF electronic filing system now in place in federal courts. As expected, courts have not been very sympathetic to this excuse. In…

By Eric Goldman Riggs v. MySpace, Inc., 2:09-cv-03073-GHK-CT (C.D. Cal. Sept. 17, 2009) This case has received some modest attention throughout its history (including a quick mention here when the court upheld MySpace’s user agreement), but the district court’s dismissal…

By Eric Goldman [This is a relatively minor pro se case, which is why I’ve let it sit this long, but it has a couple of interesting facets that make the case worth blogging even at this late date.] Mehmet…

By Eric Goldman Dazzlesmile, LLC v. Epic Advertising, Inc., 2:09-cv-01043-PMW (D. Utah complaint filed Nov. 23, 2009) Dazzlesmile sells a teeth whitening system. Presumably these systems generate fat profits, because Dazzlesmile has brought an expensive “sue-the-world” lawsuit against its ad…

By Eric Goldman Morningware, Inc. v. Hearthware Home Products, Inc., 2009 WL 3878251 (N.D. Ill. Nov. 16, 2009) I keep getting calls from reporters operating under the misimpression that trademark owner-vs.-search engine keyword advertising lawsuits are more common than trademark…

[Post by Venkat] As noted on Twitter’s blog, Twitter refreshed its privacy policy yesterday. Given that virtually everything Twitter does is placed under the microscope, I’m sure the policy will be pored over in detail. (Here’s a link to the…

By Eric Goldman Menagerie Productions v. Citysearch, 2009 WL 3770668 (C.D. Cal. Nov. 9, 2009) While we don’t hear much about click fraud litigation any more, there are still some click fraud lawsuits percolating through the courts, including this one…

By Eric Goldman I’m pleased to announce the AALS Section on Law and Computers program at the AALS annual meeting in New Orleans on Saturday, January 9, 2010. This program was developed in response to the Call for Papers we…

[Posted by Venkat] In what probably belongs in the “software doesn’t surreptitiously record conversations, people do” file, a federal court in Tennessee rejected Electronic Communications Privacy Act and product liability claims brought by someone whose ex-spouse used software to log…

[Post by Venkat] Tagged, which is supposedly the “third-largest social networking site in the world” (whatever this means) recently settled enforcement actions brought by New York and Texas Attorneys General. (See coverage at Bits and Media Post.) The basic allegations…