Website operators often take for granted the enforceability of their websites’ terms of service. In a recent order issued in a case from the Central District of California, Nguyen v. Barnes & Noble, Inc., Judge Josephine Tucker reminds us that such presumptions are not necessarily correct: terms of service that do not require an affirmative… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: Online Contracts
Computer Crime Prosecutions Face New Difficulties
Posted in Litigation, Terms of UseIn two recent decisions issued within a day of each other, two influential federal courts limited the scope of three important federal laws used to prosecute criminal conduct involving computers. On April 10, 2012, the Ninth Circuit limited the scope of criminal liability for prosecutions under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and on the… Continue Reading
Facebooks’s Online Terms of Service Held to Be Enforceable
Posted in Terms of UseIn the recent online contracting case of Fteja v. Facebook, Inc., a New York federal court held that a forum selection clause contained in Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities (the “Terms”) was enforceable because the plaintiff assented to the Terms when registering to use Facebook. The court’s analysis and holding followed the recent trend… Continue Reading
Twitpic Puzzles Users With Terms of Service Changes, Photo Agency Deal
Posted in Terms of UseTwitpic, a user-generated content service that simplifies the process of sharing photographs and other media through Twitter, came under fire earlier this year for changes to its Terms of Service that appeared to dramatically expand the rights granted to Twitpic by its users— and that were described by some media outlets as a “copyright grab.”… Continue Reading
Reboot: Facebook Overhauls Its Promotions Guidelines
Posted in Online Promotions, Terms of UseIn our February 2011 issue of Socially Aware, we reported that, at the end of 2010, Facebook had revamped its Promotions Guidelines (the “Guidelines”) to eliminate the requirement that approval be obtained from Facebook prior to offering sweepstakes, contests or similar promotions in connection with one’s Facebook page. More recently, Facebook substantially streamlined its Guidelines, which… Continue Reading
The Terms That Bind: Revisiting the Enforceability of Online Agreements
Posted in Terms of UseThe Superior Court of New Jersey recently revisited the enforceability of online contracts and the importance of how terms and conditions are displayed on websites, in Hoffman v. Supplements Togo Management LLC, et al. In so doing, the court addressed a line of cases reaching back to the Second Circuit’s 2002 landmark decision in Specht… Continue Reading
Contract Formation via Email: Traditional Rules Apply
Posted in Terms of UseA pair of recent decisions in federal court in Arkansas confirms that nothing about the virtual world changes a core principle of contract formation—that there can be no valid contract without objective manifestation of assent. The decisions both deal with the efforts of one repeat pro se plaintiff, David Stebbins, to impose upon large institutions… Continue Reading