Legal Niches

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of September 14, 2009

Posted on September 21, 2009
Virginia's Workers Compensation Committee has backed off of its attempt to force Facebook to divulge the complete contents of a user's account. iStockphoto, a Getty Images subsidiary that licenses photos and other content, has begun promoting a guarantee by which the company will cover up to $10,000 of a licensee's...

Plaintiffs Who Sued GoDaddy, Twitter, and Wordpress for Defamatory Content Written by Third Party Are About to Get Section 230 Lesson

Posted on August 17, 2009
On July 29, 2009, three plaintiffs filed suit in the Supreme Court of New York County, New York against a number of individual defendants (both known and unknown), website hosting company GoDaddy.com, micro-blogging site Twitter.com, and blog tool and publishing platform Wordpress...

Nevermind, We're Back to FeedBlitz

Posted on August 17, 2009
Due to popular demand, we have ended our brief trial of FeedBurner to manage our email subscriptions. Subscribers prefer the FeedBlitz format and functionality, so we have switched back.

Email Updates Are Now Being Delivered by Feedburner

Posted on August 15, 2009
When we launched this blog in April 2006, FeedBurner, which provides the RSS feed for the site, did not offer email updates. Now it does. So, in an attempt to consolidate the source of our feed updates, we have changed email update providers from FeedBlitz to FeedBurner...

To access blog feed reader register for free. (You will also learn about new ways to read and access the freshest law blogs.)

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of August 10, 2009

Posted on August 14, 2009
Not surprisingly, Best Buy has announced that it will not honor the $9.99 price which was mistakenly listed on its website for 52-inch Samsung HDTVs. Many colleges are outsourcing their email and Google and Microsoft are swooping in to manage the accounts for free...

Protecting Employers from New Media

Posted on August 13, 2009
Law.com has published an excellent article entitled "Protecting Employers from New Media," which discusses new issues facing employers as the use of electronic media (like email, instant messaging, blogs and micro-blogging sites, and social networking sites) increases...

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of July 13, 2009

Posted on July 19, 2009
The latest keyword advertising trademark infringement suit has been filed by language-learning software developer Rosetta Stone against Google. General Motors plans to experiment with auctioning its new cars on eBay. For the third time this year, Twitter has been hacked...

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of June 22, 2009

Posted on June 27, 2009
Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced that his Consumer Protection Division, along with consumer protection agencies from 40 other States and the District of Columbia, have entered into a settlement concerning security breaches which led to the theft of customer credit card data from 100 million credit card transactions...

E-Commerce Law Briefs: June 15, 2009

Posted on June 22, 2009
A federal judge has referred Facebook's lawsuit against spam king Sanford Wallace to the U.S. Attorney's office for possible criminal prosecution. Microsoft has filed a click fraud suit against three individuals and several corporations they control. "Microsoft said it's taking the action to crack down on click fraud, in which...

The Sky is Falling! New Facebook Usernames Will be the End of Trademark Protection as We Know It

Posted on June 12, 2009
In just over six hours, Facebook will begin permitting its users to obtain "vanity" URLs for their Facebook profiles. According to the popular social networking site, "The one place [on Facebook] where your identity wasn't reflected was in the Web address for your profile or the Facebook Pages you administer...

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of June 1, 2009

Posted on June 08, 2009
Time spent on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn is growing. Since April 2008, time spent on Facebook has increased by 699%, compared to a 31% drop in time spent on MySpace. "According to the Associated Press, the U.S. military in Afghanistan is launching a Facebook page, a YouTube site, and Twitter...

Starting an Online Business: Licensing Requirements

Posted on June 04, 2009
Over the past few months, a number of people have visited E-Commerce Law looking for a link to our guest post on About.com's Online Business blog entitled "Starting an Online Business: Licensing Requirements." Unfortunately, our link to that guest post no longer leads to the correct article...

More Technology & Effective Advocacy

Posted on June 03, 2009
This morning, I came across bookmarks to a few of the articles I used in preparing for my "Technology & Effective Advocacy" presentation at the Maryland Partners for Justice Conference. Here are the links: Big brother is watching, more than ever before Google searches become evidence in sexual assault Social...

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of May 25, 2009

Posted on June 01, 2009
Popular social networking site Facebook has settled a dispute over whether it actually owns the FACEBOOK trademark. Think Computer "has agreed to abandon its efforts to get the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to cancel the trademark issued to Facebook in 2006...

Technology & Effective Advocacy: MySpace, YouTube & Facebook

Posted on May 29, 2009
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of speaking on "Technology & Effective Advocacy: MySpace, YouTube & Facebook" at the 11th Annual Maryland Partners for Justice Conference. We discussed ways that practitioners can use the Internet to prepare for trial (e...

Happy Belated Memorial Day!

Posted on May 26, 2009
E-Commerce Law Briefs will return next weekend.

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of April 20, 2009

Posted on April 27, 2009
The Wikipedia Foundation has demanded that the artists responsible for Wikipedia Art surrender the domain name wikipediaart.org. "Last February, [the artists], working with several collaborators, created a Wikipedia article and invited the general public to add to it, following Wikipedia?s standards of credibility and verifiability...

Southern District of New York Holds that State Law Intellectual Property Claims are Not Barred by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act

Posted on April 21, 2009
In Atlantic Recording Corporation et al. v. Project Playlist, Inc. 2009 WL 766224 (S.D.N.Y.) six of the world's largest record companies sued the defendant, Project Playlist, Inc. (?Project Playlist?), for copyright infringement in the District Court for the Southern District of New York...

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of April 13, 2009

Posted on April 20, 2009
"A Texas couple who say Internet posters made their lives "torture" after they were charged with rape are closer to stripping away their tormentors' anonymity. A judge in California turned down a motion by Topix.com to quash a subpoena for identifying information on 178 anonymous posters, ABC News reported...

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of March 23, 2009

Posted on March 27, 2009
"Netflix Inc is the latest media company to integrate with social networking website Facebook, whose huge community of young, tech-savvy users could help drive growth of the online DVD rental service's subscriber base" E-Commerce Law Briefs is a weekly feature appearing each Friday afternoon on E-Commerce Law...

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of February 9, 2009

Posted on February 16, 2009
"A statistical analysis of 28,000 passwords recently stolen from a popular US website and posted on the Internet reveals that people often" select weak or easily guessed passwords. The study found that 16 percent "took a first name as a password, often their own or one of their children, according...

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of February 2, 2009

Posted on February 06, 2009
Cybercrime is up.MySpace has booted 90,000 sex offenders.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 January 26, 2009

Posted on February 02, 2009
"An appeal filed with the Virginia Supreme Court this week claims that a Montgomery County judge erred in dropping a civil case developer Roger Woody brought against several Christiansburg bloggers" that the lawsuit claimed were critical of Woody's business practices...

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of January 19, 2009

Posted on January 25, 2009
Belkin admits that fake positive reviews of its products were solicited by one of its employees. Apparently, in an effort to artificially boost Belkin's status on Amazon, Belkin business development representative Mark Bayard used the Mechanical Turk service "to ask users to write postive reviews of a Belkin product at...

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of January 12, 2009

Posted on January 16, 2009
If you live in New York, you can now order Subway sandwiches by text message. Subway "restaurant owners have seen their average order sizes grow 50 percent since starting" the service."The lawsuit filed by a San Francisco chiropractor against a patient who wrote a negative review of him on Yelp...

Happy Holidays!

Posted on December 26, 2008
There will be no E-Commerce Law Briefs today. The feature will return after January 1st.

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of December 15, 2008

Posted on December 22, 2008
The Wall Street Journal reported that Google had "approached major cable and phone companies that carry Internet traffic with a proposal to create a fast lane for its own content". Google dismissed the story and said that it remained committed to net neutrality...

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of December 1, 2008

Posted on December 07, 2008
In response to the rapid increase in e-book sales, Random House is making thousands of books available in electronic form. The publisher expects its electronic library to grow from 8,000 titles to 15,000.The U.S. Army is spending $50 million over the five years to develop combat training video games...

Six People All E-Commerce Lawyers Should Follow on Twitter

Posted on December 04, 2008
Recently, E-Commerce Law started using Twitter, the popular microblogging site, to post short items of news and commentary to which we would not ordinarily devote an entire post on this blog. In just a few days, we've developed a growing following, mostly among law professors and other attorneys with an...

E-Commerce Law on Twitter

Posted on December 01, 2008
You can now follow E-Commerce Law on Twitter (we "tweet" under the user name JonathanFrieden because eCommerceLaw was already taken). Check it out and let us know what you think.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted on November 28, 2008
Due to the Thanksgiving Day holiday, there will be no E-Commerce Law Briefs post this week. The E-Commerce Law Briefs for this week will be published next Friday, December 5th.

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of November 17, 2008

Posted on November 24, 2008
President-Elect Barack Obama will use YouTube for his weekly Presidential Address but may have to give up his Blackberry."Google won preliminary approval of a settlement of copyright lawsuits by publishers and authors in which it will pay $125 million to resolve claims over the company's book-scanning project...

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of October 13, 2008

Posted on October 20, 2008
Google and Yahoo are in talks with the Department of Justice to avoid an antitrust challenge to their proposed advertising agreement.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...

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of October 6, 2008

Posted on October 13, 2008
Google and Yahoo are delaying their controversial search advertising partnership.In a lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Public Citizen seeks an injunction against John Dozier of Dozier Internet Law prohibiting Dozier from pursuing defamation and trademark claims against Ronald Riley, who runs...

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of September 29, 2008

Posted on October 06, 2008
Why is the Internet like the Hotel California? A Canadian newspaper points out some of the problems that arise because the Internet never forgets - "you can post to it anytime you like, but it never leaves."Outsourcing aids many data thefts.In separate actions, Microsoft Corporation and the State of Washington...

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of September 22, 2008

Posted on September 29, 2008
The entertainment industry wants IPSs to block the trading of copyrighted files.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 September 15, 2008

Posted on September 21, 2008
After the Virginia Court of Appeals affirmed the spamming conviction of Jeremy Jaynes, the Virginia Supreme Court has struck down Virginia's anti-spam law on constitutional grounds. The case has lead some to question the willingness of the Virginia legislature to pass aggressive measures that may not pass constitutional scrutiny...

E-Commerce Law Briefs: September 1, 2008

Posted on September 08, 2008
Google is launching an Internet browser.International Internet traffic grew 53 percent from mid-2007 to mid-2008, down from a growth rate of 61 percent in the previous 12 months.E-Commerce Law Briefs is a weekly feature appearing each Friday afternoon on E-Commerce Law...

Happy (Belated) Labor Day!

Posted on September 02, 2008
E-Commerce Law Briefs will return this Friday, September 5, 2008.

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of August 18, 2008

Posted on August 25, 2008
The White House is missing up to 225 days of email dating back to 2003. 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 August 11, 2008

Posted on August 17, 2008
Yahoo plans to permit users to opt-out of targeted advertising. Tiffany & Co. has appealed last month's dismissal of its federal suit against eBay. The court ruled "that trademark holders like the jewelry maker, rather than auction platforms like eBay, are responsible for policing their brands online...

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of August 4, 2008

Posted on August 11, 2008
The two female Yale law school students who sued anonymous individuals responsible for allegedly defamatory posts to the AutoAdmit.com website have named one of the offending posters. "The women say [Matthew C. Ryan] made sexually charged slurs about them on the Web, including a false claim that one of the...

The Rocket Docket

Posted on August 06, 2008
Some of my colleagues and I have launched the Rocket Docket, a new blog featuring a discussion of cases decided by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (the original "Rocket Docket.") Please let us know what you think.

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of July 28, 2008

Posted on August 03, 2008
After being sued by NBC Universal and Fox, Red Lasso has shut down its video search and clipping website. Without permission "RedLasso . . . recorded TV shows and then indexed clips so users could find, pull, and embed them on other Web sites." NBC and the NFL are planning...

E-Commerce Law Named to Top 100 Legal Blogs

Posted on July 30, 2008
The Criminal Justice Degrees Guide has named E-Commerce Law to its list of the "top 100 law and lawyer blogs." Other notables on the list include Above the Law, Blawg Review, and Internet Cases.

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

Posted on July 21, 2008
Google has struck a deal to protect the personal data of millions of YouTube users. 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.

Internet Evidence (Part III: Hearsay Exceptions)

Posted on July 16, 2008
Last Wednesday, we addressed the application of the Hearsay Rule to Internet content. This week, we discuss the application of some common hearsay objections. Common Hearsay Exceptions All of the hearsay exceptions applicable to traditional printed documents are applicable to Internet content, but there are two such exceptions which have...

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

Posted on July 14, 2008
A judge has ordered YouTube to produce information "linking users of YouTube . . . with every clip they have watched there." AT&T and Time Warner Inc.'s AOL unit "have agreed to purge their Internet servers of Web sites that traffic child pornography...

Internet Evidence (Part II: Hearsay)

Posted on July 09, 2008
Last Wednesday, we addressed the application of Fed. R. Evid. 901 to Internet content. This week, we discuss the application of the Hearsay Rule to such evidence. Hearsay Hearsay is any "statement, other than one made by the declarant while testifying at the trial or hearing, offered in evidence to...

Blawg Review #167

Posted on July 07, 2008
The Blawg Review is a weekly review of the best law-related posts from a variety of blogs. We've had the pleasure of hosting the Blawg Review twice before (Blawg Review #103 and Blawg Review #140) and we're thrilled to be hosting Blawg Review #167. Since this edition of the Blawg...

Happy Independence Day!

Posted on July 04, 2008
Due to the Independence Day holiday, we won't be publishing our E-Commerce Law Briefs today. Our E-Commerce Law Briefs will return next Friday. In the meantime, don't forget that we will be hosting Blawg Review #167: 50 Stars of the Blawgosphere on Monday, July 7th.

Internet Evidence (Part I: Authentication)

Posted on July 02, 2008
Technology?s pervasive reach and society?s mounting dependence upon it has weighty implications for evidence jurisprudence. As individuals continue to use the Internet as a means of commerce, personal expression, and social interaction, the Internet has become an increasingly important source of information pertaining to those personal and business transactions...

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of June 23, 2008

Posted on June 27, 2008
After resolving its dispute with the Drudge Retort, the Associated Press (AP) is working to develop guidelines for what it considers to be permissible use of its content by bloggers. The Drudge Retort is Rogers Cadenhead's takeoff of the Drudge Report...

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of June 16, 2008

Posted on June 21, 2008
An arbitrator has ordered Media Breakaway and its CEO, Scott Richter, to pay MySpace $4.8 million in damages and $1.2 million in legal fees for spamming MySpace users. "The arbitrator in the case noted that Media Breakaway has made efforts to comply with the law, such as making affiliates sign...

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of June 9, 2008

Posted on June 16, 2008
Finally, three of country's largest Internet service providers have agreed to block access to child pornography sites. The move was part of an agreement reached with the New York Attorney General. Google and Yahoo have reached an agreement by which Google would deliver ads next to some of Yahoo's search...

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of June 2, 2008

Posted on June 09, 2008
Privacy groups complain that Google's privacy policy is not posted "conspicuously" enough to comply with California law. "The California law in question requires commercial Web sites that collect personal information about their users to conspicuously post its privacy policy on its Web site...

E-Commerce Law Will Host the Independence Day Edition of Blawg Review

Posted on June 06, 2008
We've hosted Blawg Review twice (Blawg Review #103 and Blawg Review #140) and enjoyed it so much that we asked to host this year's Independence Day edition, which will be posted on July 7, 2008. After considering a number of possible themes, we've settled on presenting a post enumerating "50...

Copying Another Website's Terms of Use Can Lead to Trouble

Posted on June 02, 2008
Public Knowledge has highlighted a number of instances (most notably, instances involving Twitter and Adobe) in which e-commerce companies have failed to undertake the analysis and thoughtful drafting required to develop customized Terms of Use and, instead, used generalized terms or simply "borrowed" the Terms of Use posted at another...

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of May 26, 2008

Posted on June 01, 2008
Microsoft's new strategy for competing with Google includes attempting to close a search advertising deal with Yahoo and offering users cashback rewards. The "Live Search Cashback" service permits users of Microsoft's Live Search to purchase certain products online with a cash refund...

Happy Memorial Day

Posted on May 24, 2008
Due to the Memorial Day holiday, we won't be posting E-Commerce Law Briefs this week. E-Commerce Law Briefs will return on Friday, May 30, 2008.

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of May 5, 2008

Posted on May 12, 2008
It looks like Microsoft won't be buying Yahoo afterall. (Link: Microsoft walks away from Yahoo deal at SilliconValley.com) The six major Hollywood movie studios have won a $111 million judgment against TorrentSpy.com. "The judgment, filed Monday in U...

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of April 28, 2008

Posted on May 04, 2008
MySpace has obtained a default judgment against "spam king" Sanford Wallace. Wallace had failed to respond to written discovery or sit for a deposition. "'It is...a defendant's responsibility to respond to discovery, obey court orders, and avoid dilatory tactics," the court wrote in its order...

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

Posted on April 25, 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...

Defending a Criminal Case in a Cyber World

Posted on April 23, 2008
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...

Federal Court Upholds YouTube Terms of Use

Posted on April 20, 2008
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...

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

Posted on April 18, 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...

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

Posted on April 11, 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...

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

Posted on April 08, 2008
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...

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

Posted on April 04, 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...

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

Posted on April 04, 2008
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...

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of March 24, 2008

Posted on March 31, 2008
"A security lapse made it possible for unwelcome strangers to peruse personal photos posted on Facebook's popular online hangout, circumventing a recent upgrade to the Web site's privacy controls." (Link: Technician bypasses security to view private Facebook photos at SilliconValley...

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of March 17, 2008

Posted on March 21, 2008
We thought JuicyCampus might be the next Internet gossip site to suffer from unwanted legal scrutiny and it turns out we were right: New Jersey law enforcement officials have been investigating JuicyCampus for at least a month and claim that the site violates the state's Consumer Fraud Act...

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of February 18, 2008

Posted on February 22, 2008
Blu-Ray has beaten HD DVD in the lastest format war. (Link:  Blu-Ray Wins After HD DVD is Scuttled at washingtonpost.com) In a move that will certainly cause concern among priavy groups, Google will begin storing the medical records of between 1,500 and 10,000 people who "volunteered to an electronic transfer of their personal health records so they can be retrieved through Google's new service, which won't be open to the general public...

JuicyCampus May Be the Next Internet Defamation Battleground

Posted on February 19, 2008
Litigation over Internet defamation has grown as Internet users increasingly visit, and post to, unmoderated forums about their colleagues and acquaintances.  Following in the footsteps of sites like AutoAdmit, a new college gossip website has become a popular forum for anonymous and potentially damaging postings about students, professors, and others...

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of February 11, 2008

Posted on February 15, 2008
Yahoo has rejected Microsoft's $45 billion purchase offer.  "The rejection was not a surprise and had been expected by investors since late last week. Some believe this is part of an effort by Yahoo to get a higher sales price from Microsoft...

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of February 4, 2008

Posted on February 11, 2008
Despite the well-publicized concerns of parents and the government, children may actually be safer on social networking sites than other Internet sites. (Link:  Kids safer in social networks than chat rooms at news.com.au) E-Commerce Law Briefs is a weekly feature appearing each Friday afternoon on E-Commerce Law...

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of January 28, 2008

Posted on February 03, 2008
Microsoft has offered to purchase Yahoo.  (Links:  Microsoft wants to purchase Yahoo at BBC News and Yahoo Offer is Strategy Shift for Microsoft at New York Times) E-Commerce Law Briefs is a weekly feature appearing each Friday afternoon on E-Commerce Law...

Blawg Review #144

Posted on January 28, 2008
We don't make a habit out of pointing out when the most recent edition of the Blawg Review has been posted.  We figure that our readers probably go to Blawg Review to check on that.  However, this week's edition is hosted by one of our alltime favorite Blawg Review hosts, Cyberlaw Central...

Take Control of Your Online Reputation

Posted on January 28, 2008
At the DC Bar presentation last week, I was asked what practical tips I would give to attorneys who are interested in protecting or enhancing their reputations online. Aside from the usual advice I would give any attorney about protecting their reputation, I suggested the following:Know what?s being said about you online...

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

Posted on January 25, 2008
Google's share of the search market declined last month, but it's still comfortably the world's most popular search engine at 56.3 percent of the market.  Yahoo's market share also dropped slightly to 17.7 percent.  Microsoft's market share increased nearly two points to 13...

"David Lat Has a Stupid Fat Face"

Posted on January 24, 2008
This afternoon I spoke at a DC Bar event entitled "Practicing Law in the e-Court of Public Opinion:  How the Internet Can Make Or Break Your Reputation and What You Can Do About It" with David Lat, Carolyn Elefant, Mark Britton, and Andrew Mirsky...

Dedon on Estate Planning

Posted on January 22, 2008
After being quoted a number of times in the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, my colleague John Dedon has decided to take his message directly to the people.  This month, John launched Dedon on Estate Planning, a regularly-updated discussion of estate planning techniques...

E-Commerce law Briefs: Week of January 14, 2008

Posted on January 21, 2008
MySpace has agreed to take additional steps to protect young users from online sexual predators and bullies, including improving age verification measures.  "The deal comes as sites such as MySpace and Facebook have grown exponentially in recent years, with teenagers making up a large part of their membership...

Practicing Law in the e-Court of Public Opinion: How the Internet Can Make Or Break Your Reputation and What You Can Do About It

Posted on January 16, 2008
Next Thursday, January 24, 2008, I'll be speaking at a DC Bar event entitled "Practicing Law in the e-Court of Public Opinion:  How the Internet Can Make Or Break Your Reputation and What You Can Do About It."  I'll be on a panel with Andrew Mirsky, moderated by Carolyn Elefant, discussing the role of the First Amendment and defamation law in protecting an attorney's reputation and providing practical tips for attorneys who want to protect or enhance their online reputation...

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

Posted on January 13, 2008
U.S. authorities have arrested eight men in connection with a multi-million dollar online sports gambling operation. "Twelve men face charges including conspiracy and illegal gambling in an indictment unsealed on Monday in Manhattan federal court for their role in operating a gambling Web site and call center that serviced U...

1-800 Contacts Files Its Latest Keyword Advertising Suit in Utah

Posted on January 10, 2008
Yesterday, Eric Goldman posted that 1-800-Contacts has filed its latest keyword advertising suit in federal court in Utah.  The company is apparently hoping for better luck than it had in its earlier forays into trademark litigation.  Several years ago, 1-800-Contacts brought a trademark infringement claim against WhenU...

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of December 31, 2007

Posted on January 04, 2008
Monday is the expected launch date for Wikia Search, a user-influenced search engine expected to compete with Google.  "According to its creators those searching topics will be able to rank search results using open-source software in order to improve the filtering of search results...

Google Trademark Attorneys Will Be Busy in 2008

Posted on January 03, 2008
Last year, we discussed the possible genericide of "Google" and the inconsistent approach taken by the company in protecting its mark.  Now, Carolyn Elefant (of My Shingle and Legal Blog Watch) notes the reported increase in the use of "Google" as a verb amongst news websites and passes on a prediction of Big Mouth Media:  Google's trademark attorneys will find themselves very busy this year...

Forum Selection Clause in Website Terms of Use Held Enforceable

Posted on January 02, 2008
In Krause v. Chippas, 2007 WL 4563471 (N.D. Tex. 2007), the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas has transferred the case in reliance upon a forum selection clause found in the FuturesCom.com Service and Usage Agreement.That agreement states, in relevant part:You agree that any controversy between FuturesCom...