May 26, 2013

Recently Updated Threat Entries Involving Section 230

NOTE: The information and commentary contained in this database entry are based on court filings and other informational sources that may contain unproven allegations made by the parties. The truthfulness and accuracy of such information is likely to be in dispute. Information contained in this entry is current as of the last event mentioned in the "Description" section below; additional proceedings might have taken place in this matter since this event.

Seaton v. TripAdvisor, LLC

Date: 10/11/2011	Status: Pending	Disposition: n/a
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Tennessee	Publication: Website

In January 2011, TripAdvisor, operator of the travel review website http://www.tripadvisor.com, published a list entitled "Dirtiest Hotels, as reported by travelers on TripAdvisor," which purported to be a list of the dirtiest hotels in the United States. Grand Resort Hotel...

Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 03/20/2013 - 1:29pm - 0 comments

Fraley v. Facebook

Date: 03/18/2011	Status: Pending	Disposition: n/a
Type: Lawsuit	Location: California	Publication: Social Network

On March 18, 2011, five plaintiffs (including two minors) sued Facebook in California state court. The plaintiffs claimed to represent the class of people injured by Facebook's introduction of a "Sponsored Story" system, through which Facebook turns certain types of user...

Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 12/04/2012 - 4:34pm - 0 comments

Directory Assistants, Inc. v. SuperMedia, LLC

Date: 08/26/2011	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Dismissed (total)
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Virginia	Publication: Email; Website

On August 26, 2011, Directory Assistants, Inc., a Connecticut-based advertising consulting agency, filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia against advertising company SuperMedia, LLC, and three of its employees. The claims, which sound...

Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 11/16/2012 - 1:28pm - 0 comments

Ratingz, Inc. v. Adrian Philip Thomas, P.A.

Date: 02/22/2012	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Settled (total)
Type: Lawsuit	Location: California	Publication: Website

On February 22, 2012, Ratingz, Inc., operator of LawyerRatingz.com, a user-review site for reviewing attorneys, filed a declaratory judgment action in federal court in California. According to Ratingz's complaint and the attached exhibits, the background to the declaratory judgment filing is...

Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 06/21/2012 - 3:15pm - 0 comments

Jones v. Dirty World, LLC

Date: 12/23/2009	Status: Pending	Disposition: Lawsuit Filed
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Kentucky	Publication: Blog

On December 23, 2009, a Jane Doe filed a lawsuit in federal court. The plaintiff intended to sue TheDirty.com, alleging that a number of posts on the blog (self-described as a "reality blogger . . . all about gossip...

Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 05/11/2012 - 7:11am - 0 comments

Global Royalties v. Xcentric Ventures

Date: 07/24/2006	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Dismissed (total)
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Arizona; Canada	Publication: Forum

Global Royalties, Ltd., an international firm that brokers investments in gemstones, sued Xcentric Ventures, Inc., Ed Magedson, and Jane Doe Magedson over three allegedly defamatory posts made by a third party, Spencer Sullivan, on Xcentric's website Ripoff Report. According to...

Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 04/13/2012 - 12:11pm - 0 comments

M.A. v. Village Voice Media, LLC

Date: 09/16/2010	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Dismissed (total)
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Missouri	Publication: Website

On September 16, 2010, M.A., a minor, filed suit against Village Voice Media for content posted on Backpage.com, a website that allows users to post classified ads targeted to specific geographic areas. M.A.'s claims were based on the Child Abuse...

Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 03/23/2012 - 2:03pm - 0 comments

Ascentive v. Opinion Corp.

Date: 09/24/2010	Status: Pending	Disposition: Injunction Denied
Type: Lawsuit	Location: New York	Publication: Forum

Ascentive, LLC, a software company, filed suit against Opinion Corp. d/b/a PissedConsumer.com on September 24, 2010, claiming that Opinion Corp., through its PissedConsumer website, infringed on Ascentive trademarks. The complaint alleges seven claims for relief against Opinion Corp.: The first...

Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 02/09/2012 - 5:14pm - 0 comments

Giordano v. Romeo

Date: 09/17/2009	Status: Pending	Disposition: Dismissed (partial)
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Florida	Publication: Website

John Giordano, president of a Florida-based addiction treatment company, filed suit (individually and on behalf of his company) against Donna Romeo over a posting on consumer-reporting website Ripoff Report. The post describes the treatment facility's conditions in harsh terms, and...

Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 01/12/2012 - 2:41pm - 0 comments

Beverly Stayart v. Yahoo!, Inc. et al

Date: 02/05/2009	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Dismissed (total)
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Wisconsin	Publication: Website

In February 2009, Beverly Stayart filed a lawsuit against Yahoo! and two other internet services, Altavista and AdultFriendFinder, for unauthorized use of her name on the Internet. She claimed false designation of origin and false endorsement under the Lanham Act,...

Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 07/08/2011 - 5:13pm - 0 comments

Davis v. Google

Date: 04/09/2009	Status: Pending	Disposition: n/a
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Illinois	Publication: Blog

Cherie Davis, mother of 2006 gold medal winner Shani Davis, the first African American speed skater to make the U.S. Olympic team, sued Google, Inc. in Illinois state court, seeking an injunction requiring the company to take down a blog post written...

Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 07/05/2011 - 9:12am - 1 comments

Shiamili v. The Real Estate Group of New York

Date: 03/18/2008	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Dismissed (total)
Type: Lawsuit	Location: New York	Publication: Forum

In March 2008, a New York real estate broker filed a defamation lawsuit against The Real Estate Group of New York, Inc. over comments appearing on its website's message board. The Supreme Court of New York, New York County, denied the real...

Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 06/16/2011 - 8:41am - 0 comments

Wong v. Tai Jing

Date: 12/11/2008	Status: Pending	Disposition: Dismissed (partial); Withdrawn
Type: Lawsuit	Location: California	Publication: Forum

Yvonne Wong, a pediatric dentist from Foster City, CA sued Tai Jing and Jia Ma, the parents of a boy she treated, after they allegedly posted a negative review about her on Yelp!, a consumer review website. Wong also named...

Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 06/14/2011 - 10:47am - 0 comments

Roger Nicosia v. Lisa Rollins, Christopher Bartlett, John Etzler, Philip A. Grogan d/b/a Spearboard.com/Enterprise Publications

Date: 01/10/2011	Status: Pending	Disposition: n/a
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Florida	Publication: Forum

On January 9, 2009, Plaintiff Roger Nicosia navigated his boat into a dive area and ran over diver Robert Murphy (“Murphy”). The boat’s propellers sliced through Murphy’s legs, resulting in amputation of both legs below the knee. The collision was...

Legal Threat - kwimberly - 03/22/2011 - 12:45pm - 0 comments

Subway v. Quiznos

Date: 10/27/2006	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Settled (total)
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Connecticut	Publication: Website

In late 2006, restaurant franchisor Quiznos and video-sharing site iFilm co-sponsored a nationwide contest, “Quiznos v. Subway TV Ad Challenge,” inviting members of the public to submit videos comparing a Quiznos sandwich to a Subway sandwich using the theme "meat, no meat."...

Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 12/21/2010 - 4:56pm - 0 comments

Reit v. Yelp

Date: 03/04/2010	Status: Pending	Disposition: Dismissed (partial)
Type: Lawsuit	Location: New York	Publication: Forum

Glenn Reit, a Manhattan dentist, sued Yelp! and John Doe (Michael S.) for defamation and Yelp! for deceptive acts and practices under New York’s General Business Law § 349 and § 350. According to his complaint, as of May 2009, Dr....

Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 12/06/2010 - 4:03pm - 0 comments

Keith Goodridge Construction v. WYBS, Inc.

Date: 08/18/2008	Status: Pending	Disposition: Dismissed (total)
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Oregon	Publication: Website

In August 2008, Keith Goodridge sued WYBS, Inc., owner of the site www.merchantcircle.com, and a John Doe using the screen name "Attorney" over allegedly defamatory comments posted to the site. According to the complaint, a posting from June 4, 2008...

Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 12/02/2010 - 2:43pm - 0 comments

Kruska v. Perverted Justice Foundation

Date: 01/10/2008	Status: Pending	Disposition: Dismissed (partial)
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Arizona	Publication: Blog; Email; Social Network; Website; Wiki

Jan Kruska sued several anti-pedophile organizations, including Perverted Justice Foundation, Inc. ("PJFI"), and individuals affliliated with those organizations, as well as domain registrar GoDaddy.com and social networking site MySpace.com, after the organizations accused Kruska of being...

Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 11/28/2010 - 2:12pm - 0 comments

Novins v Cannon (Lawsuit)

Date: 02/13/2009	Status: Pending	Disposition: Dismissed (partial)
Type: Lawsuit	Location: New Jersey	Publication: Forum

On February 13, 2009, Charles Novins, a New Jersey attorney, filed a lawsuit on behalf of himself and his law firm, alleging that nine individuals posted defamatory statements about him "in a world-wide forum." Novins attached to his complaint a copy of...

Legal Threat - 09/27/2010 - 3:11pm - 0 comments

Neuwirth v. Silverstein

Date: 06/29/2007	Status: Pending	Disposition: Dismissed (partial)
Type: Lawsuit	Location: California	Publication: Blog; Email

In June 2007, Rachel Neuwirth, a journalist and political commentator who espouses strongly pro-Israel views, sued Washington-state blogger Richard Silverstein and university professor Joel Beinin for libel in a California state court. On November 27, 2007, the court...

Legal Threat - DMLP Staff - 08/20/2010 - 3:23pm - 0 comments

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Recently Updated Threat Entries Involving Section 230

Seaton v. TripAdvisor, LLC

Fraley v. Facebook

Directory Assistants, Inc. v. SuperMedia, LLC

Ratingz, Inc. v. Adrian Philip Thomas, P.A.

Jones v. Dirty World, LLC

Global Royalties v. Xcentric Ventures

M.A. v. Village Voice Media, LLC

Ascentive v. Opinion Corp.

Giordano v. Romeo

Beverly Stayart v. Yahoo!, Inc. et al

Davis v. Google

Shiamili v. The Real Estate Group of New York

Wong v. Tai Jing

Roger Nicosia v. Lisa Rollins, Christopher Bartlett, John Etzler, Philip A. Grogan d/b/a Spearboard.com/Enterprise Publications

Subway v. Quiznos

Reit v. Yelp

Keith Goodridge Construction v. WYBS, Inc.

Kruska v. Perverted Justice Foundation

Novins v Cannon (Lawsuit)

Neuwirth v. Silverstein

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Recently Updated Threat Entries Involving Section 230

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