Will you be sued by these trolls?

Web lawyer trollAs both a Web lawyer and an Internet business owner, I hate spammers. There’s one right now (initials G.A.) who has become such a pain in the butt that my emails now go through a new filtering process to get rid of the 3 to 5 pieces of garbage he tries to send daily to my inbox. Unsubscribe from one list and he’s got you on several more you never opted into.

Clients and friends learn about him so he’s costing himself a lot by being a jerk.

Unfortunately, Internet-related laws can be abused too. In this case, I’m talking about a type of Web lawyer who sets up businesses designed to profit solely from suing entrepreneurs like you. They’re out there trolling for new lawsuits to file.

Spam Troll

One guy went to law school so that he can sue spammers (even those who don’t intend to spam but do so accidentally). He subscribes to lots of lists and then sues the list owners when they violate California spam laws. By suing in small claims court under state law, he’s able to rack up a lot of wins because few Internet business owners want to deal with it. They either pay a settlement to go away or end up with a default judgment against them for not fighting lawsuits.

Copyright Troll

The second lawyer set up a company that looks for articles and photos that have been posted on websites without permission of the copyright owner. He then goes to the owner, buys up the rights, and sues the infringer in Nevada. The person who posted without permission usually settles rather than face legal fees, a court fight in Las Vegas (gambling!), etc. This lawyer has branched out from suing website owners for infringement into suing people who post copyrighted material without permission on other people’s sites, in forums, blog comments, etc.

Moral of the story?

Understand that in addition to the government cracking down, there are new profitable legal niches being created that involve suing Internet business owners for violating the law…whether or not they intended to do so. Yet another shining example that there’s a difference between law and justice.

Talk with your Web lawyer before doing something that could land you in hot water in a shakedown lawsuit.

To your online success!

-Mike the Web lawyer

Share
Filed Under: Copyrights, Internet Marketing, Spam, Web Lawyer Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Battlestar Galactica Exhibition

Web lawyer - BSG signTaking a break from being a Web lawyer this afternoon, I dropped by the Battlestar Galactica Exhibition. Not quite as fun as a Star Trek convention but the BSG exhibits did Awaken the Geek Within. The exhibits contain memorabilia from both the original and the reimagined BSG series.
Here are some of the pics (click the thumbnails to see higher resolution).
Web lawyer Mike YoungWeb lawyer - Cylon testWeb lawyer - Galactica
Web lawyer - Cylon ship
If you’ve never watched BSG, you can learn more about it at SyFy.com. This focuses on the reimagined series instead of the original that aired in the late 1970s.
Wikipedia also has a decent overview of BSG from its origins to the present day.
No matter how committed you are to building your Internet business, spend some time off doing things that make you happy.
Web lawyer - Book of Pythia
To your online success!
-Mike the Web Lawyer
P.S. For the true believers out there, posting a pic of the ‘holy’ Book of Pythia doesn’t mean I believe in the Lords of Kobol in particular or polytheism in general.
P.P.S. Just because I took these pics, and own the copyrights for them, doesn’t mean that I’m making any claim to the BSG intellectual property. Any trademarks or copyrights related to the Battlestar Galactica franchise are owned by someone else. If that’s something you’re interested in, a good place to start would be BSG creator Glen A. Larson.
Share
Filed Under: Internet Marketing, Web Lawyer Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

FTC hits bogus benefits claims

Web lawyer claimsHere’s something you might want to discuss with your Web lawyer. There’s a company who advertised the ingredients in its yogurt had certain health benefits. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) disagreed, claiming the company had exaggerated what the yogurt could actually do to improve your health.

39 state attorneys general had jumped on the bandwagon going after the company too for making these claims. What would you do in a similar situation with 40 government agencies hunting you down over a claim you made?

The company in this case caved in rather than trying to prove what they said was true. As part of the settlement, the company has to stop making the claims and fork out $21 million. And it will pay out a lot more in the future if caught making a similar “mistake.”

As your Web lawyer can tell you, whether or not you’re right doesn’t matter in some cases. The cost of fighting to prove your point can simply be too much. In other words, even if you “win,” you really lose because of the lost time and money spent fighting.

What does yogurt have to do with your online sales?

The same laws and regulations being used by the FTC and states to go after this company for allegedly making false claims also apply to health claims made for products and services sold online.

The same goes for making earnings (income) claims. Whether the claims are made online or offline, the government is watching.

Be careful what you say. When in doubt, don’t make a claim you can’t back up if the government decides to ask you about it. Of course, any legal issues should be run by your Web lawyer before making health or income claims.

To your online success!

-Mike the Web lawyer

Share
Filed Under: Federal Trade Commission, Web Lawyer Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »

Free! Get Internet legal and marketing updates plus 3 chapters of the #1 Internet legal protection book for business website owners. Over 40 pages packed with strategies you can use to protect yourself without a lawyer.