E-Commerce Law

Among the Experts: Online Marketing for Lawyers

2009-11-09T09:20:29-05:00

This week, I'll be speaking at seminars entitled Among the Experts: Online Marketing for Lawyers. The seminars, held tomorrow in Washington, D.C. and Wednesday in Baltimore, Maryland, will cover:

Core Web Presence - discussing how to develop a strategy around your online presence and get the most out of Google, Twitter, Facebook, and Avvo.

Google Analytics - addressing how to track online performance with Google Analytics.

Search Engine Optimization - discussing SEO basics.

Other speakers include Mark Britton, the founder and CEO of Avvo, Conrad Saam, Avvo's Senior Marketing Manager; and Carolyn Elefant, a solo practitioner in Washington, D.C.

You can register for the Washington, D.C. seminar here.

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

2009-11-09T09:05:08-05:00

Two high school sophomores have sued the school that punished them for posting sexually suggestive photos on MySpace.

Twitter and Facebook users were the subject of scams.

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

Eastern District of Missouri Applies Section 230 in Dismissing Civil Conspiracy Claim

2009-10-22T18:34:11-04:00

In Cornelius v. Deluca, 2009 WL 2568044 (E.D. Mo. Aug. 18, 2009), the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri granted defendants' Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss on the grounds that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 barred the plaintiffs' civil conspiracy claim. Plaintiffs, who manufacture nutraceuticals, filed a state court lawsuit against a number of defendants, including the operator of the www.bodybuilding.com website (the "Website"), which arose from the posting of allegedly libelous statements about the plaintiffs and their products on the Website.

Plaintiffs alleged that the Website was a marketplace for the sale of nutraceuticals and contained public forums which permitted members of the public to post comments. Plaintiffs further alleged that the Website forums allowed representatives of competitors to post libelous statements regarding the plaintiffs and their products and that the defendants assisted in posting those false statements.

Although the plaintiffs contended that the moving defendants "conspired" with other defendants to "post[] or allow[] to be posted" the allegedly defamatory statements, they made no specific allegations as to how the moving defendants conspired with others to post the statements other than through operation of the Website's message board. Plaintiffs alleged that the movants "posted or allowed to be posted" the statements, they failed to attribute any statement to the moving defendants. Applying the pleading standard set forth in the Supreme Court's decision in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 1974 (2007), the Court found that "the complaint sets forth no facts that make it plausible that, given the CDA, the moving defendants could be held liable for the statements of others. As such, all three moving defendants are entitled to dismissal." Cornelius, 2009 WL 2568044, at *3.

Additional Commentary: Online Retailer Isn't Liable for User Comments--Cornelius v. Deluca and Online Retailer Not Liable for Libelous User Posts

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

2009-10-19T17:04:11-04:00

Yahoo has settled a click fraud suit.

Facebook and Twitter IN, MySpace OUT.

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 October 5, 2009

2009-10-13T09:30:53-04:00

Amazon's new Kindle can wirelessly download books in the United States and more than 100 other countries.

AT&T has announced that it will permit iPhone users to use Internet calling services like Skype on its wireless network.

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