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E-Commerce - Page 4

SarahBird
By: Sarah Bird

What To Do When Google Bans Your Site Because Of A Bogus DMCA Take-Down Notice

E-Commerce

I've had a few different people approach me because their sites have been banned by Google based on the filing of a DMCA Take-Down Notice. Their sites are gone from the SERPS and people want to know SEO and legal strategies for getting around this problem. Today I'm going to share the best legal response to this problem. Your best bet for getting content restored is to file a counter-notification in accordance with the DMCA. I'll give you some background information and then some sites with more detailed information and examples below.

SarahBird
By: Sarah Bird

Margae vs. Clear Link: The Dangers of Doing SEO By Commission and Not Having Good Contract Discipline

E-Commerce

In this Utah case, Margae Inc., an internet marketing company with an odd homepage, is suing Clear Link, another internet marketing company in Utah District Court. Clear Link is a big fish providing and managing affiliate marketing services for some hot properties, such as Direct TV, ADT and Hughes Net. Margae is a smaller company that claims expertise in affiliate marketing and SEO. It agreed to provide affiliate and SEO services for Clear Link. Unfortunately, the parties disagree about the terms of that agreement.

SarahBird
By: Sarah Bird

The Associated Press Uses the DMCA to Try and Shut Down Bloggers 

E-Commerce

I have some disconcerting news to report on today's Legal Monday. In a move that it will surely regret, the Associated Press (AP) declared war on the internet. Maybe that's a slight overstatement, but the AP will certainly rue the day it decided to adopt a policy of sending DMCA take-down notices to bloggers and social news aggregators. Last week, the AP sent seven DMCA take-down notices to The Drudge Retort, a site parodying The Drudge Report and serving as a social news aggregator. The 8,500 site users create blog entries with links to interesting news articles on the web. Rogers Cadenhead, owner of the Drudge Retort, received a letter from the AP's attorneys claiming that the Drudge Report was infringing on the AP's copyright by allowing its users to publish short (39 to 79 words) quotations from AP articles with links back to the original. Five of the six alleged infringements used different titles than the original AP article. The seventh claimed infringement was in a blog comment that used a short quote of an original AP article and linked back to it.

SarahBird
By: Sarah Bird

New UK Law Criminalizes Stealth Marketing Techniques

E-Commerce

Our European colleagues have been buzzing about a new law prohibiting certain stealth marketing tactics. Distilled, IPA, The BBC, BigMouthMedia, The Times Online and Marketing Week have speculated on the potential fallout of the new regulation. Many have predicted the demise of common, but controversial covert marketing techniques, including paid links, fake reviews, flogs, and comment seeding. What exactly does the law prohibit? Is it the death of stealth marketing? What does it mean for stealth marketers in other countries who may do some business in the UK?

SarahBird
By: Sarah Bird

Gambert Strikes Back!! The Confidential Official Response to SEOmoz's Opposition Proceeding

E-Commerce

That's right ladies and gents, the zaniness continues. Mr. Gambert and I must be psychically connected because apparently he filed an official response to our Notice of Opposition at the same time I was filing our Motion for Default Judgment. You can take a look at the case documents and download copies of both Jason's 41-page response and my motion, here. It's forty-one pages and truthfully, I haven't sat down and studied the whole thing yet. But it's too delicious to withhold any longer.

SarahBird
By: Sarah Bird

Two Conflicting Judicial Opinions on Using a Competitor's Trademark in Metatags

E-Commerce

Both cases involve using a competitor's trademark for advertising purposes. However, they represent fundamentally different understandings about how metatags work and the effect, if any, they have on the consumer. Because the value of using keywords in metatags for ranking purposes is minimal at best, you could respond to both of these cases with a resounding, "So what?" Why do we care if you can or can't use a competitor's mark in keyword metatags since that is not a viable SEO strategy?

SarahBird
By: Sarah Bird

Florida Court's Order on Negative Keywords Will Not Break the Internet

E-Commerce

Last week, there was minor uproar over a Florida District Court's Order involving negative keywords. Understandably, many SEO/Ms were anxious that the Court screwed something up that would prevent companies from bidding on their competitors' trademarks for keyword advertising. Ars Technica ran the headline "'Negative Keyword' Ruling May Have Big Impact On search Ads." Search Engine Watch also expressed deep concern about the ruling, calling it "a dangerous precedent." The Horror! I want to assure the search community that the court's order isn't radical, nor is it likely to have adverse affects on keyword advertising. Let's take a quick look.

SarahBird
By: Sarah Bird

The Secret: SEM Sued for Trademark Violations and Breach of Fiduciary Duty

E-Commerce

In fact, the whole nasty mess is public record because the owners of The Secret are suing their former internet marketer for trademark infringement and violating his duty of loyalty to them. The case, TS Merchandising v. Hollings, was filed November 2007 and includes allegations that Hollings infringed and exploited The Secret's trademarks by selling his own merchandise under the brand, cutting unauthorized side deals with vendors of authentic merchandise, and generally using his knowledge of SEO for evil by seeking personal gain. The whole story has the bizarre, made-for-Tv feel about it. Regardless, it's an interesting look at the kind of trouble that internet marketers can get themselves into.

SarahBird
By: Sarah Bird

Class Action Trademark and Anti-Cybersquatting Lawsuit Against Google and Domain Parkers Gets the Green Light

E-Commerce

Vulcan Golf v. Google et al. is an important case because it's the first time (as far as I know) that trademark owners have tried to hold Google liable for domain-related conduct. Plaintiffs are taking what they learned in the keyword advertising context and applying it to domaining. Further, because the case is potentially a class action, there are mega bucks on the line. Think about it: anyone who's ever had her trademark infringed by a domainer using a parking company and Google Adsense could theoretically sign up to be a plaintiff. The recent ruling paves the way for trademark holders to sue companies who provide advertising services, but neither own or register the offending domain name, to be held liable for trademark infringement and cybersquatting.

SarahBird
By: Sarah Bird

Pulling a Fast One: A Clever Internet Marketer Is Trying to Trademark "SEO"

E-Commerce

May It Please the Mozzers, I was working on trademarking some SEOmoz marks the other day, when I noticed that someone is trying to register the trademark "SEO." I was shocked. Apparently, the guy who's doing this has managaged to get all the way to the publication stage of the registration process. That means he has met a preliminary review by a trademark attorney. Now the...

SarahBird
By: Sarah Bird

Managing Risk: Legal Issues for Merchants and Affiliate Marketers

E-Commerce

My goal is to present a checklist of legal issues and trends surrounding affiliate marketing. I hope this will be interesting to both merchants and marketers. Affiliate marketing has unfortunately gained a bad reputation for being particularly high risk. While the industry is unlikely to ever be risk-free, it is possible to manage your risk by (1) investigating your prospective marketing partner; (2) using and maintaining a tight legal contract that allocates the risk and provides for the appropriate indemnifications, and (3) keeping informed about the current technology, marketing strategies, and regulatory climate. Without further ado, let's take a look at risk identification and management for merchants and affiliate marketers.


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