| |
|
|
 Yet Another Online Gripes Site Sued (April 4, 2008)Source: Techdirt (http://www.techdirt.com/) Time and time again we hear stories of various online "gripes" sites getting sued. Every time it's the same basic story. Some company that some person complained about gets upset about the complaint and sues the site. Of course, in every one of these cases, the lawsuit gets tossed out, because the site itself is protected thanks to CDA section 230 safe harbors that protect the site from liability for content written by users. Yet, the lawsuits just keep on coming. This latest one is a little different. It's been filed by a car dealer against the website ConsumerAffairs.com, which hosts some complaints about his dealership. The dealer has actually sued ConsumerAffairs.com twice before, only to pull both lawsuits right before they were about to be tossed. This time, though, he swears things are different, though it's still not at all clear how he gets around the section 230 issue (answer: he probably doesn't). However, to take the claims a bit further than the usual complaints, he's alleging two points: first that the domain name ConsumerAffairs.com is deceptive in that it confuses users into thinking it is associated with various state government offices of consumer affairs -- making the site seem more "official." He also complains that the site is simply designed as a lead generator for class action lawyers, which the site owner disputes, noting that they make no money from such lawsuits and receives no referral fees. It's difficult to see how either of these issues gets around the core issue, which is that it's still not the site itself that's liable. If the guy wants to sue those who posted the complaints, he could go after them -- but the site itself is immune.
Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
|
The Economics of Online Backup (February 5, 2008)Source: Daring Fireball (http://daringfireball.net/)
Sauvegarde online Gratuite avec Mozy ! ! ! Yes, yes, yes... (August 6, 2007)Source: MACANDPHOTO.COM - photo numérique sur Macintosh (http://www.macandphoto.com/) | Il y a des soirs (tard) ou l'on aimerait bien aller se coucher. Mais quand on tombe sur un soft génial comme celui-ci, il faut immédiatement l'essayer ! Et en parler... C'est sur les conseils avisés de Pixellum, que je viens d'essayer MOZY : 2 Go de sauvegarde online Gratos sans limite de temps ! Génial, ça marche vraiment très bien. Essayez le en passant par ce lien : https://mozy.com/?ref=UFW8AC Il y a 2 Go d'espace offerts gratuitement dès l'inscription. Cela suffit pour sauvegarder le plus important : applications, carnet d'adresse et préférences, ect... Et à chaque fois qu'un de... |
 French Drivers Renting Out Their Driving History Online (July 12, 2007)Source: Techdirt (http://www.techdirt.com/) | A few months ago we discussed the practice of renting out one's credit score to people having trouble getting a loan. There didn't seem to be much justification for the scheme, as it's pretty clearly just a way to game the system. A similar practice is taking place in France, except instead of credit scores, people are renting out their good driving records. Basically, the way it works is that if someone commits a traffic violation that accrues points onto their license, they can pay someone else to take the fall. For the elderly, who have more use for cash than a clean driving record, the system works out pretty well. Of course, it doesn't do much to further the purpose of driving laws, which are there to keep bad drivers off the road. In most cases, letting the market find an optimal price for any good (in this case, a clean driving record) would be ideal. But for the safety of French drivers, it would probably be best if this loophole were closed. |
|
|
