Balough
April 29, 2021
(April 29, 2021) Federal appellate courts continue to disagree as to when a website must comply with the accommodations requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). The Eleventh Circuit reversed a trial court’s finding that Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc., a southeastern-based grocery store chain, violated the ADA because the legally blind plaintiff, Juan Gil, was unable […]
Balough
February 7, 2019
(February 7, 2019) If your business is a place of “public accommodation” and you have a website, a recent case should serve as a reminder that your website and app must be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). Domino’s Pizza, LLC was sued by a blind customer who accessed various websites using screen-reading […]
Balough
June 8, 2017
(June 8, 2017) Placing copyrighted materials on a website does not justify an inference that an alleged infringer accessed the materials, especially when the materials are not strikingly similar, the Seventh Circuit found. The case involved whether a homebuilder infringed copyrighted home plans. The appellate court said the home-plan field was “crowded,” making it difficult […]
Balough
July 12, 2016
(July 12, 2016) Even if you get permission from Facebook users to use their pages to send messages promoting your website, you still need Facebook’s permission. If Facebook doesn’t approve, you may be liable under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA)—at least after receiving a cease and desist notice. That’s the lesson learned by […]
Balough
October 28, 2015
(October 28, 2015) After apparently suffering its own confusion, the Ninth Circuit has withdrawn its opinion finding that Amazon.com’s search results caused initial interest confusion and now believes there is no confusion when the online retailer did not disclose that it does not offer the brand being searched. In its original opinion issued in July […]
Balough
March 19, 2015
QVC, Inc. is not entitled to an injunction against a small start-up that sent web crawlers to the online retailer giant, overloading QVC’s servers for two days and impairing consumers’ ability to use the site. QVC alleged that Resultly, Inc. violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) because it sent bots to gain pricing […]
Balough
November 19, 2014
TRUSTe, Inc.’s online certifications are not always trustworthy according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC found, and TRUSTe agreed, that the company misled consumers in two respects. First, TRUSTe failed to conduct annual recertifications of websites holding TRUSTe Certified Privacy Seals. Second TRUSTe failed to monitor references in its seals, which falsely stated […]
Balough
October 15, 2014
The parents of a 13-year-old may be liable for negligence by failing to compel their son to remove a fake Facebook page that remained online for nearly a year, when the Facebook page contained libelous, racist, and sexual content about a female classmate. The boy, along with another classmate, created a fake Facebook page on […]
Balough
October 11, 2014
A company that markets self-direct individual retirement accounts has filed an unfair competition and trademark infringement action against the United States over the use of the term “myRA” for the starter savings account proposed by President Obama. My Retirement Account Services, LLC in Murray, Kentucky, has a registered mark for a stylized design for “GetMyRA.com,” […]
Balough
September 18, 2014
A claim that a website negligently failed to warn users about sexual predators contacting and raping women who used the site is not barred by the Communications Decency Act (CDA), the Ninth Circuit found. The appellate court reversed a district court’s ruling that Internet Brands, Inc., which operates modelmayhem.com, was immune from a negligence claim […]
