E-Commerce Law

Legal Issues Involved in Blogging

On Friday, I had the pleasure of speaking at AIPLA's Annual Meeting.  I spoke during the session entitled "Blog On!  Thoughts on Patent Blogging from Inside and Outside the Blogosphere" with Aaron Feigelson, Karen Hazzah, Jacob Ward, Dennis Crouch, and Donald Zuhn. 

In addition to being part of the panel, I gave a presentation on Legal Issues Involved in Blogging.  If you missed the presentation, you can download the Powerpoint presentation or the written materials for my part of the session.  If you attended the session, please let me know what you thought.

Student’s Off-Campus Cyber-Bullying Protected by the First Amendment

In a recent case in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, the court granted the Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment in what was a matter of first impression for the court.  J.C. v. Beverly Hills Unified School District, 711 F.Supp.2d 1094 (C.D.CA. 2010).  In this case, a highschool student sued the school district and school administrators for violating her constitutional right to free speech when the school suspended her for posting a video clip on YouTube.  The Plaintiff made the video, while hanging out with friends at a restaurant off-campus, in which the group of students made derogatory, sexual and defamatory statements about a 13-year old classmate.  The Plaintiff contacted five to ten students from school and told them to watch the video on YouTube.   The Plaintiff also contacted the subject of the video and told her that it was posted on the internet.

Pay-Per-Click Advertising Case Against Facebook Survives Motion to Dismiss

On April 22, 2010, Judge Fogel of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, ruled on Facebook’s motion to dismiss a suit brought by Advertisers who had entered into contracts with Facebook, the popular social networking site.  In re Facebook PPC Advertising Litigation, C 09-3043 JF (HRL) (N.D. Cal. April 22, 2010).  Judge Fogel granted Facebook’s motion to dismiss, in part, and denied their motion as to certain aspects of Advertiser’s claims, allowing those claims to go forward.

Court Holds "No Legitimate Reasonable Expectation of Privacy" in "Private" Facebook or MySpace Postings

In Romano v. Steelcase Inc., 907 N.Y.S.2d 650 (2010), a New York trial court judge has ordered the defendant to grant the plaintiff access to defendant's social networking accounts, including deleted materials.  Plaintiff brought a personal injury action against the defendant claiming damages related to her loss of enjoyment of life following her injuries.  Defendant moved the court for an order granting it access to Plaintiff's current and historical Facebook and MySpace pages and related information upon the grounds that Plaintiff placed certain information on the social networking sites which were inconsistent with her claims concerning the nature and extent of her injuries, especially her claims for loss of enjoyment of life.

Operating Website with Name Similar to Plaintiff's Registered Trademark is Insufficient to Subject Defendant to Jurisdiction Under Calder Effects Test

In Mobile Anesthesiologists Chicago, LLC v. Anesthesia Associates of Houston Metroplex, P.A., ___ F.3d ___, 2010 WL 3811319 (7th Cir. Oct. 1, 2010), the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a claim brought under the federal anti-cybersquatting statute for lack of personal jurisdiction.

Seventh Circuit Certifies Internet Tax Question to Illinois Supreme Court

Yesterday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit asked the Supreme Court of Illinois to opine as to "whether municipalities may required electronic intermediaries to collect and remit amusement taxes on resold tickets."  City of Chicago v. StubHub!, Inc., 2010 WL 3768072, at *5 (7th Cir. Sept. 29, 2010).