Social Networks Shielded from Liability for Sexual Assaults By Debbie Rosenbaum – Edited By Amanda Rice Julie Doe II et al. v. MySpace Inc., Case No. B205643, (Cal. Ct. App. June 30, 2009) Opinion On June 30, the Second District Court of Appeals in Los Angeles affirmed the judgment of the lower court and held that online social networks and other websites cannot be held liable for a sexual assault on a minor that stems from an online meeting. The ... Read More...

Ninth Circuit Holds Anti-Spyware Software Company is Protected by Communications Decency Act Sec. 230 Immunity By Dmitriy Tishyevich-Edited by Anthony Kammer Zango, Inc. v. Kaspersky Lab, Inc., June 25, 2009, No. 07-35800. Slip Opinion On June 25, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment for Kaspersky Lab, which distributes software that filters and blocks malicious programs.  The Ninth Circuit held that Kaspersky qualified for civil liability immunity under the Communications Decency ... Read More...

By Andrew Jacobs FTC Ready to Regulate Blogs On June 21, The Washington Post reported that revised FTC advertising guidelines, set to be approved late this summer, will explicitly include blogs within their scope. The guidelines make clear that bloggers must disclose any compensation they receive for product endorsements and that they may be held liable for false claims made in those endorsements. According to the Post, while some bloggers worry about potential chilling effects, others believe that the guidelines ... Read More...

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Considers Internet Service Provider’s Liability for Fake Profiles By Ezra Pinsky – Edited by Dmitriy Tishyevich Barnes v. Yahoo!, Inc., May 7, 2009, No. 05-36189. Slip Opinion On May 7th, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a district court’s 12(b)(6) dismissal of a complaint which had sought to impose negligence liability on Yahoo for hosting a fraudulent personals profile created by the plaintiff’s ex-boyfriend, despite plaintiff’s ... Read More...

Content by Vera Ranieri Google Sued for Use of Trademarked Terms in Adwords Program A class action was filed against Google on May 11, 2009 in federal court in Texas challenging its use of trademarked terms in its adwords program. The New York Times covered the case and surrounding issues. Ars Technica analyzes Google’s new AdWords policy. ACLU Challenges Constitutionality of Gene Patents The ACLU filed suit in the Southern District of New York challenging the patenting of genes and genetic tests as ... Read More...