E-Commerce Law

For Jurisdiction Purposes, A Website May Not Be Doing Business Where It Claims

On March 30, 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a District Court order to dismiss an action for lack of personal jurisdiction even though the defendant’s website stated that the defendant operates a business in all 48 contiguous states of the United States. Li v. Hock & SMP, 2010 WL 1193446 (2nd Cir. March 30, 2010). 

The defendant in the matter was SMP, Inc. (“SMP”), a Pennsylvania corporation with its principal place of business in New Jersey.  The wife of Xiu Feng Li brought this action on behalf of Mr. Li after Mr. Li passed away when one of SMP’s trucks collided with a vehicle in which Mr. Li was a passenger.  Hock was the driver of that truck.

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York entered an order granting defendants’ motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(2).  On such a motion, the plaintiff carries the burden of demonstrating that jurisdiction exists.  Robinson v. Overseas Military Sales Corp., 21 F.3d 502, 507 (2d Cir. 1994).  Li argued that personal jurisdiction in New York existed under N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 301, which permits a court to exercise personal jurisdiction over a foreign defendant that is “doing business” in New York.  Wiwa v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., 226 F.3d 88, 95 (2d Cir. 2000) (emphasis added).  

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of April 19, 2010

The Library of Congress is archiving Twitter.

Facebook and Nielson have joined forces to develop advertising effectiveness solutions and determine consumer attitudes, brand perception, and purchase intent from social media advertising.  Shortly after the announcement of this relationship, Nielson began publishing reports which were highly complimentary of the effectiveness of Facebook's advertising.

One-third of U.S. teenagers send more than 100 texts a day.

Each weekend, E-Commerce Law Briefs provides a brief summary and commentary on recent legal news affecting e-commerce businesses.

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of April 12, 2010

Retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens encouraged the growth of Internet retailers like Amazon by authoring the 1992 opinion which held that they cannot be required to collect sales tax on out-of-state sales.

Twitter unveiled its new advertising model.

Each weekend, E-Commerce Law Briefs provides a brief summary and commentary on recent legal news affecting e-commerce businesses.

Plaintiff Will Not Get Her “Days Inn” Court

On March 26, 2010, the California Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a slip-and-fall case filed by Xuan T. James, who was injured at a Minnesota Days Inn in which she reserved a room online.   James v. T .H. Continental Ltd., 2010 WL 1170977 (Cal. App. 1 Dist. March 26, 2010).  James brought suit in California against T.H. Continental, the operator of the hotel in Minnesota, because she made her hotel reservation from California on an interactive website operated by Days Inn.

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of March 29, 2010

It took the U.S. Navy 17 months to inform employees of the Naval Facilities Service Center in California that their social security numbers had been inadvertently released.

Armed with new monitoring technology, the US Copyright Group has filed suit on behalf of an ad hoc coalition of independent film producers against 20,000 individual movie torrent downloaders.  The MPAA and large U.S. studios have expressed interest in the litigation but want to see if ISPs would be cooperative before considering similar tactics.  (Of course suing individual infringers in this way, as opposed to the developers of the technology which permit the infringement, is a potential public relations nightmare.  In December 2008, after suing 35,000 individuals over illegally downloaded music, the RIAA announced that it was abandoning such mass litigation).

Each weekend, E-Commerce Law Briefs provides a brief summary and commentary on recent legal news affecting e-commerce businesses.