Online applications

Victory for ZeroBrokerFees.com in New Hampshire

Michael Erdman First Amendment, Online applications, Real Estate/Fair Housing

Yesterday Magistrate Judge James Muirhead ruled in favor of ZeroBrokerFees.com in the website’s suit challenging the applicability of the New Hampshire Real Estate Practice Act – specifically the licensure requirement – to the operation of ZeroBrokerFees.com. The court ruled that pursuant to a statutory exemption for newspapers, ZeroBrokerFees.com was not obligated to obtain a brokerage license in New Hampshire before advertising real estate online.

For a refresher, see my post from last May.

Here is a copy of ZBF’s lawyers’ announcement, and a copy of the court’s 33 page order.

Oral Argument in Craigslist litigation

Michael Erdman Non-tort claims/Section 230, Online applications, Pending litigation, Real Estate/Fair Housing, Section 230

The Seventh Circuit will hear oral argument (fifteen minutes per side) in Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law, Inc. v. Craigslist Inc. on February 15, 2008. We won’t know the panel’s composition until the morning of, but I’m crossing my fingers Judge Easterbrook will be selected so we can see how his thinking has evolved, if at all, since the Circuit’s 2003 GTE ruling. The GTE panel also included Circuit Judges Bauer and Wood.

While I don’t expect to be live-blogging the argument, I will certainly be there scratching out some notes. Please tap me (the tie-less guy) on the shoulder if you’re able to make it to Court that day.

For a refresher, check out my 2006 guest post on May It Please The Court. Interested in reading the appellate briefs? Click here, and enter the case number (07-1101).

Implode-O-Meter litigation settles

Michael Erdman Online applications, Real Estate/Fair Housing, Section 230, SLAPP

You may recall over the summer I posted a short blurb (see item 3) about state court litigation pending in California against a website – The Mortgage Lender Implode-O-Meter – that showcases mortgage lenders that are supposedly in “implode” mode. 

Today the Implode-O-Meter reports that the litigation commenced by the Loan Center of California earlier this year has settled.  The online press release notes that “[b]y the terms of the settlement, LCC has dismissed its claims against ML-Implode, without any admission of liability or any monetary payments.”

While it would have been interesting to see whether an appellate court would have affirmed the trial court on its Section 230 and SLAPP rulings, I’m pleased to see that the Implode-O-Meter will live to post another day.

Opponents of pending Internet gambling legislation speak out

Michael Erdman Internet-specific laws, Online applications, Proposed legislation

Earlier this week on the Senate floor, Senator Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), apparently wary of legalized online gambling, gave the following statement on HR 2046:

Mr. President, I would like my colleagues to be aware of an important letter signed by 45 State attorneys general expressing “grave concerns” about Representative Barney Frank’s Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act, H.R. 2046.
The State attorneys general note that the recently enacted Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 has “effectively driven many illicit gambling operators from the American marketplace.” The Frank bill “proposes to do the opposite, by replacing state regulations with a federal licensing program that would permit Internet gambling companies to do business with U.S. customers.” The letter continues:
A federal license would supersede any state enforcement action, because s 5387 in H.R. 2046 would grant an affirmative defense against any prosecution or enforcement action under any Federal or State law to any person who possesses a valid license and complies with the requirements of H.R. 2046. This divestment of state gambling enforcement power is sweeping and unprecedented.
One final but very important point from the letter is the impact of the so-called “opt-out” provisions. Specifically, the letter reads:
[T]he opt-outs may prove illusory. They will likely be challenged before the World Trade Organization. The World Trade Organization has already shown itself to be hostile to U.S. restrictions on Internet gambling. If it strikes down state opt-outs as unduly restrictive of trade, the way will be open to the greatest expansion of legalized gambling in American history and near total preemption of State laws restricting Internet gambling.
The Frank bill is unacceptable to the State attorneys general and it ought to be unacceptable to Members of Congress as well. I urge my colleagues to oppose the Frank bill or any similar proposals that would create a permissive Federal licensing scheme for Internet gambling.

The blogosphere is boiling over with posts on last year’s UIGEA legislation, which clamped down on online wagering, and where things may be headed in Congress.  For a sampling, check out “Online Poker,” “Live Action Poker,” and “USAPokerLife.com.”