Communications Decency Act
Category RSS FeedAre The Legal Rules For User Generated Content Becoming More Nuanced?
The general legal advice to website operators who allowed User Generated Content (UGC) in the form of comments, videos or pictures used to be relatively easy. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act protected you from copyright and Section 230 of the Communication Decency Act protected you from defamation and other liability. Recent developments are bringing a … Continue Reading
Trends for 2013 in internet and marketing law
After looking at the most popular posts from 2012 in our last edition, today we look at what are likely going to be the big trends for 2013 in internet and marketing law.
Privacy and COPPA – Although this issue is not likely to dominate the general business population, privacy and COPPA will continue to dominate the media’s … Continue Reading
Does the Communications Decency Act Protect Human Trafficking?
The State of Texas may find out and it may be more applicable to your site than you think. In early filing for the 2013 legislative session, Democratic state Senator Leticia Van de Putte proposed a bill aimed at stopping at stopping human trafficking. The entire text is here.
It allows for human trafficking victims to bring … Continue Reading
When your online rant can get you sued [Video]
In my last three posts, we covered online defamation from the business owner’s perspective. Today, we look at it from the consumer’s perspective.
The local NBC affiliate in Houston interviewed me and others for a story about it you can watch here.
The way the story was edited, it almost appeared I support suing consumers when ”sounding off … Continue Reading
Contracting Your Way to Better Online Reviews – Is the Proactive Approach Legal?
Much to the chagrin of my law firm, I often encourage people not to take legal action when they are defamed on an online review site. The issue has become more prevalent as consumers (or is it possibly competitors or people with personal vendettas) spew their ire negatively rating doctors and other professionals who only … Continue Reading
Can I sue the website for criminal acts of a user?
Match.com was sued last week because a male user sexually abused a female user on the second date. Facebook and MySpace already warded off similar suits from parents of children who were stalked online based, at least in part, on Section 230 Communications Decency Act immunity.
These stories are indeed tragic, but it reminds me of the … Continue Reading
Can I Sue When Google Suggest Suggests I am a Fraud?
If Google Instant or Google Suggest adds “is a scam” to the search inquiry for you or your company, can you sue? This is something I had not thought about until I sat in an SMX West presentation by Avi Wolensky of Promediacorp. He told the story of a neighborhood retailer who had good SEO and organic … Continue Reading
Texas Court dismissed online defamation claim but may open hole in Section 230 defense
The court of appeals in Beaumont affirmed a dismissal of the all-too-typical online defamation case last week . Plaintiffs Walter Milo and Anthony Shelton sued the Watchdog website because of something put on the site by anonymous posters in the “Guest Book” portion of the site. Plaintiffs also sued for intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The … Continue Reading
www.meatnomeat.com may be enough to weaken 230 immunity
Quizno’s ran a contest asking for its loyal sandwich eaters to send in their own videos comparing Quizno’s sandwiches to Subway’s through its contest website previously found at www.meatnomeat.com. As you can tell from the domain name, Quizno’s had a position on the “debate.”
Subway, having at least some meat in its sandwiches, sued under the Lanham … Continue Reading
What does the conviction of Google executives in Italy mean to me?
Because I have not seen much about this story, the following links to give you detailed background here, here, here and here. In summary, an Italian court convicted three Google executives for a violation of Italy’s privacy laws. What did these executives do? If you read Google’s official statement in response to the conviction, not much.
The fracas … Continue Reading
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