Yahoo! litigation: Difference between revisions

In May 1999, GoTo.com filed a patent application titled "System and method for influencing a position on a search result list generated by a computer network search engine". The patent was granted as {{Cite patent|country=US|number=6269361}} in July 2001. A related patent has also been granted in Australia and other patent applications remain pending.

Prior to its acquisition by Yahoo!, Overture initiated infringement proceedings under this patent against FindWhat.com in January 2002 and [[Google]] in April 2002.<ref>[http://news.com.com/2100-1023-876861.html Overture sues Google over search patent], Stefanie Olsen and Gwendolyn Mariano, CNet news.com, April 5, 2002</ref>

The lawsuit against Google related to its [[AdWords]] service. In February 2002, Google introduced a service called AdWords Select that allowed marketers to bid for higher placement in marked sections - a tactic that had some similarities to Overture's search-listing auctions.

[[Yahoo]] filed a suit against [[Facebook]] on marchMarch 12, 2012, claiming Facebook had [[patent infringement|infringed]] on ten of Yahoo's [[patents]]

In 1999, a complaint was instituted against GeoCities stating that the corporation violated the provisions of the [[Federal Trade Commission Act]] under 14 USC §45, which states in relevant part, "Unfair methods of competition in or affecting commerce, and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce, are hereby declared unlawful." The FTC found that GeoCities was engaged in deceptive acts and practices in contravention to their stated privacy act. Subsequently, a consent order was entered into which prohibits GeoCities from misrepresenting the purpose for which it collects and/or uses personal identifying information from consumers. A copy of the complaint and order can be found at [http://www.ftc.gov/os/decisions/docs/Volume127.pdf#page=94 127 F.T.C. 94] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090511204518/http://www.ftc.gov/os/decisions/docs/Volume127.pdf#page=94 |date=2009-05-11 }} (page 94).<ref name=ftc127>[{{Cite web|url=http://www.ftc.gov/os/decisions/docs/Volume127.pdf#page=94 |title=FTC.gov]|access-date=2012-03-14|archive-date=2009-05-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090511204518/http://www.ftc.gov/os/decisions/docs/Volume127.pdf#page=94|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The litigation came about in this way: GeoCities provided free home pages and e-mail address to children and adults who provided personally identifying and demographic information when they registered for the website. At the time of the complaint, GeoCities had more than 1.8 million members who were "homesteaders." GeoCities illegally permitted third-party advertisers to promote products targeted to GeoCities' 1.8 million users, by using [[personally identifiable information]] obtained in the registration process. These acts and practices affected "commerce" as defined in Section 4 of the Federal Trade Commission.<ref name=ftc127/>

On April 18, 2007, [[Wang Xiaoning]]'s wife Yu Ling sued Yahoo! under [[human rights]] laws, specifically the [[Alien Torts Statute]] (28 U.S.C. § 1350) and [[Torture Victim Protection Act]] of 1991 (TVPA), 106 Stat. 73 (1992) in federal court in [[San Francisco]], [[California]], [[United States]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2007/04/19/BUGU9PB4SG1.DTL&type=printable|title= Suit by wife of Chinese activist|author= Egelko, Bob|date= 2007-04-19|publisher= SF Gate}}</ref> Wang was named as a [[plaintiff]] in the Yahoo suit, as was [[Shi Tao (journalist)|Shi Tao]], a Chinese journalist detained and convicted for emailing a description of Chinese’s government’s instructions to journalists for the upcoming anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre. Both men were punished for exercising their freedom of speech because Yahoo!’s Chinese subsidiary provided their identifying information to the Chinese government.<ref name="humanrightsusa.org">http{{Cite web|url=https://www.humanrightsusa.org/index.php?option|title=com_content&task=view&idHumanRights : tout sur le droit !|website=15&Itemid=35www.humanrightsusa.org}}</ref>

The lawsuit was filed by the [[World Organization for Human Rights USA]].<ref>{{cite news|title= Second Amended Complaint|url= http://www.humanrightsusa.org/index2.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=68&Itemid=80|access-date= 2012-03-14|archive-date= 2011-04-08|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110408061713/http://www.humanrightsusa.org/index2.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=68&Itemid=80|url-status= dead}}</ref> "Yahoo is guilty of 'an act of corporate irresponsibility,' said [[Morton Sklar]], then the Executive Director of the group. 'Yahoo had reason to know that if they provided China with identification information that those individuals would be arrested."<ref name="Post">{{cite news|title= Advocates Sue Yahoo In Chinese Torture Case | date = 2007-04-20| publishernewspaper= The Washington Post | url =httphttps://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/18/AR2007041802510.html?hpid=moreheadlines}}</ref>

In November 2007, Yahoo! was called back to Congress to testify about its actions in China before the bi-partisan House Committee on Foreign Affairs. The plaintiffs’ families traveled from China to bear witness as the Committee questioned Yahoo!’s executives. Referencing the discrepancy between Yahoo!’s leaders’ testimony in 2006 and the new evidence, the Committee Chair, Representative [[Tom Lantos]], said Yahoo!’s failure to correct the record was inexcusably negligent behavior at best and deliberately deceptive behavior at worst.