E-Commerce Law

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of June 14, 2010

US Copyright Group, a District of Columbia-based venture backed by attorneys, has filed federal lawsuits against at least 14,000 John Doe defendants who allegedly downloaded independent movies from peer-to-peer file-sharing site BitTorrent.  "Experts liken the lawsuits to those filed by the Recording Industry Association of America, which has sued at least 30,000 people since 2003 for music piracy and earlier this month asked a judge to shut down the file-sharing site LimeWire. Napster, another file-sharing Web site, previously settled a piracy lawsuit with the RIAA for nearly $300 million."  As you might recall, the RIAA lawsuits were a PR disaster and failed to slow unlawful music downloads, even though the RIAA is a "real" organization, as opposed to one formed by attorneys to pursue litigation.

A man who posted a YouTube video of himself being stopped for a traffic offense by a gun-wielding Maryland State Trooper has been charged with violating Maryland's wiretap law.

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

Highest Bidder on eBay, Loser in Personal Jurisdiction Appeal

On June 3, 2010, the Appellate Court of Illinois affirmed the trial court’s dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction in a breach of contract case for a sale made through eBay.  MacNeil v. Trambert, 2010 WL 2222805 (Ill. App. 2 Dist. June 3, 2010).  The case started in November 2008 when the Appellant (“MacNeil” ) purchased a Toyota Land Cruiser from the Appellee (“Trambert”) on eBay.  After a few emails and phone calls between the parties, the transaction was completed.  Then MacNeil discovered that the vehicle did not have satellite radio or DVD screens in the headrest, as advertised in the eBay description.

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of June 7, 2010

When E-Commerce Law linked up with Facebook, one of our readers left a comment asking if "everyone and everything" have to be on Facebook now.  Apparently, it does.  Yahoo now imports a user's Facebook newsfeed and permits the user to automatically let their Facebook friends know what they are doing and saying on Yahoo services.

Should you not donate by text message?

A security breach has exposed the identity and email addresses of thousands of iPad owners.

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

Law Firm that "Cut and Paste" Section from Competing Firm's Website Properly Sued in Plaintiff's Home Forum

On May 28, 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of the defendant’s motion to dismiss for improper venue in a copyright infringement action.  Brayton Purcell LLP v. Recordon & Recordon, 2010 WL 2135302 (9th Cir. Mar. 28, 2010).  The original action stemmed from a copyright suit brought in the Northern District of California, alleging that Appellant copied verbatim material on Appellee’s website without proper attribution.

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of May 31, 2010

After receiving a DMCA take down notice from The Tetris Company, LLC, Google removed 35 Tetris clones from the Android Market.

A woman has sued Google because she was hit by a car while crossing a four lane road in the dark.  Her theory:  Google's walking directions were unreasonably dangerous.

President Obama's State Department is using social networking for diplomacy.

Military computer networks are vulnerable to remote sabotage.

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 May 24, 2010

Another week, another change to Facebook privacy settings.

A Nebraska man has been sentenced to a year in prison for a cyber attack on the Church of Scientology's websites.

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