E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of October 22, 2007

Comcast Corporation admits to "delaying" some subscriber Internet traffic to improve Internet performance for other users. According to Mitch Bowling, senior vice president of Comcast Online Services, "During periods of heavy peer-to-peer congestion, which can degrade the experience for all customers, we use several network management technologies that, when necessary, enable us to delay -- not block -- some peer-to-peer traffic. However, the peer-to-peer transaction will eventually be completed as requested."

(Link: Comcast Acknowledges Delaying Some Internet Traffic at NBC10.com)

An Indiana woman has sued popular social networking site Facebook, alleging that it profits from unauthorized text messages sent by its users to mobile phone owners whose numbers previously belonged to other people. The plaintiff seeks class action certification and unspecified damages. Her attorney says "he hopes to force Facebook to take steps so its roughly 47 million members won't be able to send text messages to recycled phone numbers."

(Link: Suit alleges Facebook profits when users send unwanted messages at SilliconValley.com)

In the meantime, Microsoft is going to pay $240 million for a 1.6 percent interest in Facebook. "The investment values Facebook, which is three and a half years old and will bring in about $150 million in revenue this year, at $15 billion."

(Link: Microsoft Buys Stake in Facebook at NYTimes.com)

E-Commerce Law Briefs is a weekly feature appearing each Friday afternoon on E-Commerce Law. Each week, E-Commerce Law Briefs will provide a brief summary and commentary on recent legal news affecting e-commerce businesses.