Keith Urban files suit over Web address
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Keith Urban, the country singer, has filed a lawsuit against Keith Urban, the painter from New Jersey, claiming the painter's Web site violates federal trademark laws.
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(InfoWorld) - Three people have sued AOL LLC over the company'sÂ controversial release of member search-engine records, in what their lawyers are billing as the first such lawsuit seeking national class action status. The three AOL members charge the Time Warner Inc. subsidiary with, among other things, privacy violation, false advertising and unjust enrichment. Two unnamed AOL members residing in California, and Kasadore Ramkissoon, who lives in New York, filed their lawsuit on Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The lawsuit seeks monetary relief for all affected AOL members in the U.S. whose search data was disclosed without consent from January 1, 2004 until the present. The plaintiffs also ask the court to instruct AOL not to store or maintain users' Web search records, and to destroy the Web search records it currently has. The lawsuit stems from AOL's decision to post on its research Web site about 20 million search records from about 658,000 of its members, covering the three-month period between March and May. AOL didn't disclose the names of the members, but it grouped each member's records with a unique number. This made it possible to see what each individual searched for. The data included search queries, as well as Web sites the members clicked on to. When the issue became a privacy scandal in August, AOL apologized and pulled the data from the Web site, but by then the data set had been downloaded multiple times and the records remain available online. The records contain sensitive information like credit card, telephone and Social Security numbers, birth dates, full names and addresses. The New York Times tracked down one of the affected members and, with her permission, interviewed and identified her. The law firm Berman DeValerio Pease Tabacco Burt & Pucillo represents the plaintiffs. A copy of the complaint is posted on theÂ law firm's Web site. The scandal has had significant repercussions within AOL. Its Chief Technology Officer Maureen Govern resigned and two other employeesÂ were fired. Last week, in an e-mail sent to all employees and obtained by IDG News Service, AOL's Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Miller referred to the incident as "the search data debacle" and announced AOL plans to hire, for the first time ever, a chief privacy officer. In the e-mail, Miller outlined a reorganization of AOL's business structure, which will include a unit solely dedicated to what he termed the "protection" of AOL consumers. Last week, in its latest search engine usage study, Nielsen/NetRatings reported that in August, people in the U.S. ran 18.2 percent fewer queries on AOL's search engine, compared with August 2005. Nielsen/NetRatings didn't venture any explanations for the drop, but industry observers have pointed directly at the search data scandal as the culprit. Among the top five search engine providers, AOL was the only one whose usage share shrunk last month. The Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a complaint with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission against AOL in August over the search data release. AOL declined to provide comment for this story. Â
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Redmond-based Microsoft Corp. filed three lawsuits against alleged spammers in US District Court in Seattle Oct. 27, claiming the defendants &quot;spoofed&quot; its Web site, as well as the Web domains of America Online, EarthLink Inc.
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Universal Music Group, the world's   biggest record company, is stepping up pressure against popular   online sites YouTube and MySpace, accusing them of infringing   the copyrights of its artists' music videos.
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A lawyer specializing in freedom of speech and the Internet said Wednesday he will defend free of charge a 19-year-old publisher of a Web site facing a lawsuit over an article that revealed trade secrets about an Apple computer.
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In a case that could shake up the growing market in wireless Internet &quot;hot spots,&quot; a New Hampshire company is suing a leading hot spot provider, alleging patent infringement. If PowerOasis Inc. of Nashua wins its case against Wayport Inc. of Austin, Texas, thousands of travelers could lose access to the Internet in hotels and airports.
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Hey, ho, let's go ... to court. A drummer who spent four years in one of the greatest punk bands of all time, The Ramones, filed a federal lawsuit Friday claiming he is owed nearly $1 million in royalties on songs sold over the Internet.
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Volkswagen files a subpoena for the identity of a YouTube user who posted a Nazi-themed parody of a recent VW Golf commercial. The move highlights the privacy risks for users of video-sharing and social-networking sites, and no law requires the sites need to notify users of those subpoenas.
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A federal judge in Alexandria, Va., will hear opening arguments today in a case that pits Geico against Google. Geico, the auto insurer owned by Berkshire Hathaway, sued Google in May for trademark infringement.
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By MITCH STACY TAMPA, Fla. - Evel Knievel has sued Kanye West, taking issue with a video in which the rapper takes on the persona of &quot;Evel Kanyevel&quot; and jumps a motorcycle over a canyon.
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The battle of file swapping networks seems to be repeating itself today as a host of music companies sue Kazaaâs owners Sharman Networks over copyright infringement.
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Star quarterback Tom Brady has sued Yahoo Inc., claiming that the Internet business used his image without his consent to advertise its fantasy football service.
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According to court documents, the man impersonated a lawyer and sent e-mails to domain name owners threatening lawsuits if they did not give up their domain registrations.
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The music industry is to sue 28 people in London and the South-east alleged to have illegally swapped music over the internet, mimicking tough legal action in the United
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Accusing Google and its YouTube site of âmassive copyright infringement,â Viacom said it was seeking more than $1 billion in damages.
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Human rights group files lawsuit against internet company.
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By Tampone, Kevin  SYRACUSE - A federal lawsuit over an allegedly defamatory Web site has been settled.  Nick Orso's Body Shop and Service Center sued a former customer, John Kiggins, over the site in March. The parties settled the suit April 17.