In Germany it is
discussed whether a masthead that can only be reached by clicking on a hyperlink
that can first be seen after scrolling a website is compliant with German law
(§ 6 TDG). I have also written an article on this topic, discussing a decision
by a Munich judge. In the USA the District Court for the Eastern District of New
York held that a forum selection clause incorporated into an ISP's terms of use
agreement was not unconsciable simply because the computer window allowed the
user to view only ten lines of the agreement at a time and the clause's terms
appeared more than three hundred lines into the document. In the opinion of the
court, there was a full and fair opportunity to read the entire document.
2.
Buying ads using trademarked terms is ok, German court says!
As reported before
Metaspinner brought suit at Hamburg district court in May 2004 alleging
trademark infringement by Google’s practice of allowing rival companies to buy
ad words using trademarked terms. On September 21, 2004 the court dismissed the
suit. The verdict has not been published yet. Links & Law will continue to
report about the case.
September
21,2004: Richard, Chris, German
Court Rejects Google Lawsuit, webpronews.com: "A
court in Hamburg, Germany has thrown out a lawsuit against Google concerning
trademark infringement."
September 21, 2004: Hamburger
Gericht weist Metaspinner-Klage gegen Google zurück, Heise:
„Das Landgericht Hamburg hat die Klage der metaspinner media GmbH gegen
die Suchmaschine Google in einem aktuellen Urteil (AZ. 312 O 324/04) zurückgewiesen.“
September 21, 2004: Prozess
gegen Google – Klage abgewiesen, Anwalt.tv:
“Das Landgericht Hamburg hat heute die Entscheidung über das
Klageverfahren der metaspinner media GmbH gegen die Suchmaschine Google, AZ.
312 O 324/04 getroffen.“
3. Googles v.
Google
Stelor Productions, the
company that owns and operates Googles.com,
has launched trademark proceedings with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
against Google. The complaint alleges that the ubiquitous search engine site is
in breach of copyright laws by offering services aimed at children. Stelor
also charges that Google's mark is confusingly similar to its own, and is
opposing Google's trademark application to cover a "long list of 'Google'
goods and services, including children's books, stickers and children's clothing."
Googles, which is mostly concerned with Google's new Froogle price
matching service, ultimately wants Google to keep its name away from children's
content, merchandise and services.
July 7, 2004: Hines,
Matt, In
name dispute, it's Googles vs. Google, CNet:
Internet search giant Google is the target of a trademark complaint filed by
the owners of children's Web site Googles.com.
July 7, 2004: Googles
gegen Google, Golem:
Stelor Productions, Kinderspielzeug-Hersteller und Betreiber der
Kinder-Website Googles.com, hat beim US-Patent- und Markenamt beantragt,
dass die Marke "Google" des Suchmaschinenbetreibers Google gelöscht
wird.
4. Mixing of
editorial and advertising content continues - IntelliTXT
Forbes.com is the most prominent
of dozens of sites that use IntelliTXT.
Vibrant Media describes its product as follows: "Vibrant Media’s
patent-pending IntelliTXT technology highlights commercial text links from
keywords appearing within pages of online content. Vibrant Media’s proprietary
technology automates the analysis and categorization of content, identifies the
most appropriate marketing message to deliver and, when activated by the user,
dynamically serves advertising messages to the right user at the right
time."
Links created by the
software are double underlined green words in text. Ads pop open in very
small text windows when your cursor hovers over the green underlined word. Move
the cursor away, and the ad window closes. Click in the ad window, and a new
browser window opens to take you to the advertiser’s website. Unlike usual
banners and pop-ups, these ads are right there in the content of an article. So
what happened to "Anything that is an advertisement should be labeled as an
advertisement"?
August 6, 2004: Werbung
im Text, intern.de:
"Forbes.com hat nach Angaben der Direct Marketers News testweise mit
der Übernahme von Intellitxt-Werbung begonnen. Dabei werden Werbe-Links in
den redaktionellen Text eingebettet."
August 6, 2004: Terdiman,
Daniel, Fark
Sells Out. France Surrenders, Wired:
"Fark.com, one of the most popular blogs on the Net, has been accused
of selling out -- joining a growing list of new-media outfits willing to
bend old-media rules."
August 4, 2004: Bezahlte
Links bei Fark, intern.de:
"Fark.com ist sicher einigen Lesern ein Begriff. Vor allem jenen, die
ihren Internet-Zugang nicht nur zum Arbeiten benutzen. Doch Fark könnte nun
zum Auslöser für eine eigentlich schon überfällige Diskussion zum Thema
"Verquickung von Content und Werbung" werden."
June 11, 2004: Google
streicht Nazi-Seite aus dem Suchindex, Spiegel.de:
"Auf Initiative des deutschen jugendschutz.net hat Google die
Webseiten des bekennenden Neonazis Gerhard Lauck aus dem Suchindex
gestrichen."
May 11, 2004: Suchmaschinen
in Deutschland bald nicht mehr jugendfrei, Heise:
"Wolfgang Schulz, Geschäftsführer des Hamburger
Hans-Bredow-Instituts, warf am gestrigen Montag auf einer Tagung der
Bertelsmann-Stiftung zum Thema "Suchmaschinen als Herausforderung für
die Medienpolitik" viele Fragen zur Regulierung von Suchmaschinen auf."
May 10, 2004: Mehr
Transparenz im Netz: Internet-Suchmaschinen wollen Verhaltenskodex umsetzen,
Bertelsmann Stiftung: "Vier deutschsprachige Suchmaschinen haben einen
entscheidenden Schritt zu mehr Transparenz auf dem Suchmaschinenmarkt getan
und werden ihre Arbeit künftig an einen Verhaltenskodex binden: Abacho,
Apollo7, crossbot und Sharelook."
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