E-Commerce Law

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of April 21, 2008

Apparantly, we're about to reach the end of the Internet.  Accordingly to AT&T, the Internet's current network architecture will reach the limits of its capacity by 2010.

(Link:  AT&T:  Internet to hit full capacity by 2010 at CNET News)

Sixteen years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, "Web sites ending in the Soviet ".su" domain name have been rising - registrations increased 45 percent this year alone. Bloggers, entrepreneurs and die-hard communists are all part of a small but growing online community resisting repeated efforts to extinguish the online Soviet outpost."

(Link:  Back in the USSR:   Soviet Internet domain name resists death at SilliconValley.com)

An advertiser has sued Google Inc. in federal court in California alleging fraud in connection with Google's AdSense program.  "The plaintiff in the case, David Almeida, had signed up for Google ads to promote his private investigation business in Massachusetts. Because he did not want to buy AdSense ads, Almeida said he left the maximum per-click bid blank, believing 'optional' meant he could opt out of the AdSense program by doing so. Instead, it turned out the AdWords bid applied when he did not exercise that option, and he should have put 'zero' into the box to opt out, said his attorney, Brian Kabateck. "

(Link:  Google accused of deception in selling AdSense keyword ads at washingtonpost.com)

eBay has sued Craigslist for "unfairly diluting" its interest in the community ad site. 

(Link:  EBay sues Craigslist ad website at BBC News)

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.

Defending a Criminal Case in a Cyber World

Last night, I had the pleasure of speaking at a dinner meeting of the Maryland Criminal Defense Attorneys Association (MCDAA).  The topic was "Defending a Criminal Case in a Cyber World" and I promised the group I would post the outline of my presentation here today. 

If you attended the meeting, feel free to post a comment letting me know your thoughts or asking any questions that I wasn't able to fully answer last night.  If you weren't at the meeting, the outline may still provide some useful information, particularly as to the admissibility of certain information taken from Internet sources.  You can view or print the outline (in PDF format), by clicking here.  (To save the outline to your hard drive, right click the link and select "Save Target As . . .")

Federal Court Upholds YouTube Terms of Use

On April 15, 2008, the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington dismissed a lawsuit filed by a YouTube user in the wrong venue.  In Bowen v. YouTube, Inc., 2008 WL 1757578 (W.D. Wash. 2008), the Court enforced YouTube's Terms of Use which require that all suits arising from YouTube's website be brought in San Mateo County, California.  In support of the ruling, the Court noted that

[while] new commerce on the Internet has exposed courts to many new situations, it has not fundamentally changed the principles of contract . . . when a benefit is offered subject to stated conditions and the offeree makes a decision to take the benefit with knowledge of the terms of the offer, the taking constitutes an acceptance of the terms, which accordingly become binding on the offeree.

Id. at *2 (quoting Register.com, Inc. v. Verio, Inc., 356 F.3d 393, 403 (2d Cir. 2004).

This case further demonstrates the importance of including an enforceable choice of law provision in a website's terms of use.

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of April 14, 2008

The New York state legislature has passed a law which will require online retailers to collect sales tax on items shipped to New York.  The so-called "Amazon Tax" might lead other states to enact similar measures, though some lawmakers believe such laws would not hold up in court.  Representatives of Amazon.com are reviewing the bill, anticipating that it will be challenged in court.

(Links:  NY Lawmakers Approve Internet Tax at WebProNews and N.Y. to tax goods bought on Amazon at Computerworld)

"A Texas woman has sued Blockbuster Inc. alleging the video rental company transmitted her personal information to Facebook.com through the Web site's Beacon marketing program. . . . In her complaint, filed April 9 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Harris claims that Blockbuster violated the Video Privacy Protection Act, which prohibits a video store from disclosing information about a person's video rentals or purchases."

(Link:  Blockbuster sued over Facebook ad feature at SilliconValley.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.

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of April 7, 2008

Early this week, stock market investors were emboldened by news of several potential corporate deals in the works.  However, one of those potential deals is still very uncertain - Yahoo (YHOO) again rejected Microsoft's (MSFT) $44.6 billion bid to purchase the company.  Microsoft has give Yahoo a three week deadline to agree to a takeover or face a proxy fight and has entered into talks with News Corp. (NWS) about a making a joint offer to purchase the company

(Links:  Deal news could lift stocks, Yahoo says "No" to Microsoft, again, Big rally on Wall Street at CNN Money and Murdoch And AOL Join Fight Over Yahoo at washingtonpost.com)

"Scientists in Switzerland have developed a lightning-fast replacement to the internet that would allow feature films and music catalogues to be downloaded within seconds."  The so-called "grid" system is 10,000 times faster than current broadband connections and is "[t]he latest spin-off from Cern, the particle physics centre that created the internet.  "[T]he grid could also provide the power needed to send sophisticated images; allow instant online gaming with hundreds of thousands of players; and offer high-definition video telephony for the price of a local call."

(Link:  Superfast internet may replace world wide web at Telegraph.co.uk)

Virginia is the first state to require public schools to offer Internet safety courses for students of all grade levels.

(Link:  Virginia first state to require Internet safety lessons at SilliconValley.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.

Should Someone Tell Christian Roommates About the Ninth Circuit's Decision in Roommates.com?

While looking for the latest discussion of the recent Roommates.com decision, I came across Christian Roommates, a free website that purports to be "your online tool for finding a Christian Roommate in your area."  Users can use the site to find "Christian" roommates or list housing for rent to other "Christians."  While the site does not require users to state their religion before gaining access to the site, it repeatedly purports to be a place for users to find Christian roommates and tenants.

Given these facts, is Christian Roommates exposed to liability under the Fair Housing Act?  Can it rely on the protection of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act?

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of March 31, 2008

Surprise, surprise:  A recent article suggests that children are using social networking sites designed for adults.  "Research into internet use has found that, among children with internet access, more than a quarter of eight to 11-year-olds claimed to have a profile page on a social networking website. This is despite nominal age restrictions aimed at preventing pre-teens from using such sites."

(Link:  Adult social networking sites attract young users at guardian.co.uk)

Equally surprising is the suggestion that social networking sites don't generate large amounts of revenue when compared to other equally popular websites.  Fox Interactive, the Internet division of News Corp., may fall $100 million short on its $1 billion revenue forecast.  Social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook have tens of millions of users but generate relatively little revenue.  For example, the 80 million unique monthly visitors to MySpace generate well under $1 billion in revenue for News Corp. whereas Yahoo! has just over 50% more visitors and generates more than seven times the revenue.  Virtual communities don't generate substantial revenue, e-commerce sites that sell real-world products and services do (e.g., Amazon).

(Link:  News Corp. (NWS) Finds Out Social Networks Are Bad Business at 24/7 Wall St.)

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.

Ninth Circuit: Roommates.com Not Entirely Protected by Section 230

The Internet is buzzing with news of yesterday’s decision in Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley v. Roommates.com, ___ F.3d ___, 2008 WL 879293 (9th Cir. 2008). A number of commentators have posted summaries and analyses of the decision, so we will not duplicate their efforts here. (This post will presume that the reader has some basic familiarity with Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and the facts and procedural history of the Roommates.com case.) However, we do feel the need to comment on a few aspects of the opinion.