Another Tough Section 230 Ruling For Ripoff Report–Vision Security v. Xcentric
…Contrary to the stated tag line, the Ripoff Report allows competitors, not just consumers, to post comments. The Ripoff Report home page states: “Complaints Reviews Scams Lawsuits Frauds Reported, File…
Hashtags Are Not Trademarks—Eksouzian v. Albanese (Guest Blog Post)
…They submit a report from a social media expert who opines that using a competitor’s product name that way is a common practice, analogous to “placing an advertisement on a…
Two Tough Section 230 Rulings From Last Week–General Steel v. Chumley & Xcentric v. Smith
…Smith, who threatened to prosecute Ripoff Report (a/k/a Xcentric Ventures) and its principal Ed Magedson and allegedly committed various prosecutorial abuses along the way. Ripoff Report and Magedson sued to…
City Can’t Use Copyright To Censor Critical Videos–Inglewood v. Teixeira
…his narrating his criticism of Mayor Butts over slides or other text, documents – such as a report by the Inglewood city clerk – and video clips, some of which…
Federal Trade Secret Bill Re-Introduced–And It’s Still Troublesome (Guest Blog Post)
…not “misappropriation,” leaving it unclear whether theft is different from misappropriation or is a subpart thereof. Similar reports, like the United States Trade Representative’s Special 301 Report on the state…
What’s Worse Than Cleaning Up A Meth Lab? A Trademark Injunction Against Using “Meth Lab Cleanup” In Metatags
…the term “metatags” indiscriminately (and painfully, the defendants’ brief also uses the term “meta-data,” apparently interchangeably), and the plaintiff’s (not very) expert report generically discusses “metatags” but seems to be…
Two 512(f) Rulings Where The Litigants Dispute Copyright Ownership
…Hawks Dismissed * Michael Savage Takedown Letter Might Violate 512(f)–Brave New Media v. Weiner * Copyright Owner Enjoined from Sending DMCA Takedown Notices–Biosafe-One v. Hawks * New(ish) Report on 512…
Washington Anti-SLAPP Statute Violates Right To Jury Trial–Davis v. Cox
…Anti-SLAPP Laws and Housing Anti-Discrimination Two More Cases Hold That Anti-SLAPP Laws Protect Consumer Reviews Ripoff Report and Topix Postings Protected by California’s Anti-SLAPP Law–Chaker v. Mateo We Need Federal…
Ripoff Report Gets Easy Section 230 Win In Third Circuit–Obado v. Magedson
Photo credit: enameled house number two hundred and thirty // ShutterStock This was a really interesting pro se challenge to Section 230. The lower court opinion contained all kinds of…
California’s Resale Royalty Statute Violates the Dormant Commerce Clause—In Part (Guest Blog Post)
…Both the Nimmer and Patry treatises opine that the California statute should be preempted, and a 1992 Copyright Office Report so concluded as well. See Register of Copyrights, Droit de…