Over the past year there has been quite a few news stories about the number of information requests made by Government agencies like the NSA to tech companies. Companies like Google, Microsoft, Facebook and others have requested permission to disclose more information about these requests to their users. In the past, when Government agencies demanded … Read more
When brands invest in digital advertising there are a lot of things they need to think about. Creating an engaging ad, targeting the right audience, figuring out what the right cost per click is and many things need to be considered or you’ll lose a lot of money on the ad campaign. One of the … Read more
The new ‘Send to Anyone on Google+’ feature which Google launched earlier this month has gotten a lot of negative feedback. Many people don’t like the fact that it opens up anyone with a Google+ account to receiving more spam. Consumer Watchdog, which is a non-profit group, has recently filed a complaint with the FTC … Read more
Today the FTC has brought actions against an email spammers for defrauding consumers into believing that they must register for health insurance under the Affordable Health Care Act that day or face fines or worse. The email did not go to any official website for the ACA, nor was associated with any government program but … Read more
A federal court judge has recently ruled that a good faith belief that consent existed might be a complete defense to a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) lawsuit. In Chyba v. First Financial Asset Management, Inc., the plaintiff filed her TCPA complaint after receiving a handful of telephone calls to her cellular phone from a collection agency (the … Read more
The Italian Parliament passed a new measure which will prevent companies from buying Internet ads from companies outside of the country. The law was put in place because of the fact that large companies like Google would sell their ads through a regional company in a more tax friendly location. In Google’s case, they would … Read more
Just as Google is coming to the end of a long legal battle in Europe, it seems a new case is just starting, and this time much closer to home. Canadian government regulators are reportedly preparing to open a formal investigation into Google concerning their abuse of their dominance in the Internet search market. Regulators … Read more
About seven months ago, a Dutch privacy agency found that Google is violating a data protection law. Recently, however, the Dutch Data Protection Authority (an official government agency) has taken up the case, and begun the official investigation into the matter. They believe that Google is violating Dutch law by bringing personal data from a … Read more
The Supreme Court of the United States has now refused to hear the challenge to the New York State “Amazon law.” The fact that they are refusing to hear the case means that the lower court ruling on the matter will stand, which means that the law will remain on the books. The case is … Read more
The huge barge that Google is building at Treasure Island, just off the coast of San Francisco, has been quite a mystery over the past year or so. Most people (including myself) expected that it would be a floating datacenter, but according to recently obtained confidential budget reports, it looks like it will be more … Read more
Earlier this year, the California State Senate passed an amendment to the California Online Privacy Protection Act (“CalOPPA”). Effective January 1, 2014, website operators are required to disclose through their privacy statements how they respond to Do-Not-Track signals and whether other parties may collect personally identifiable information about a consumer’s online activities over time and across different … Read more
Last year, I highlighted some of the risks involved with relying upon standard industry business contracts. You can see that article here. The designation of a particular forum for disputes is one of many critical considerations. This issue must be addressed explicitly, following an analysis that considers the totality of the circumstances. A recent decision … Read more
Florida Resident Yuliana Avalos, who would like us to think that she is a model, has filed a $1.5B lawsuit against Match.com claiming that her photo has been used on many Match.com profiles and similar sites without her consent. According to her anywhere from hundreds to millions of profiles have been using her photos for … Read more
Out of Makati Philippines comes news that Bodog Asia has been raided, based on political pressure from Philippines “Gangster Governor” Chavit Singson. According to the warrant, this was done based on an investigation that somehow Bodog was offering gambling on a street level. “The raiding party was 12 deep and only 4 of the group … Read more