Volume II

Issue : 7: April 1, 2004

• Philippines Government to Benefit from Online Gambling
• World Trade Organization Rules that the U.S. Should be Opened to Internet Gambling
• Accountant Sues Search Engines for Libel for "Injurious" Search Results
• Court Finds New York Times Liable for Defamation for Use of Companys Graphic in Article
• Japanese Court Finds No Copyright Exists in Web News Headlines
• European Union Hits Microsoft with Record $613 Million Fine for Antitrust Abuses
• B.C. Supreme Court Finds Potential Liability for Chat Room Owners over Postings
• German Court Rules Pop-Up Ads Require Permission
• The Dutch Supreme Court Rules ISP can Ban Spammers
• Privacy Commissioner of Canada Releases New Decisions
• California Appeals Court Finds Personal Jurisdiction over Two Out-of-State Businesses
• Canadian Federal Court Dismisses Motion to Compel ISP to Disclose Identity of File Sharers

Home > Volume II > Issue 7: April 1, 2004 > Accountant Sues Search Engines for Libel for "Injurious" Search Results

Accountant Sues Search Engines for Libel for "Injurious" Search Results

Mark Maughan, a California accountant is suing Google, AOL, Time Warner and Yahoo! for delivering search results that allegedly defamed him. Maughan claims that by scanning the source and reformatting the information from the source, Google's patented PageRank algorithm results in changing the context of the information presented, which in his case produced "alarming, false, misleading and injurious" search results.

Maughan seeks to prevent Google from using PageRank. Both Yahoo! and AOL use the Google search engine at the time of the alleged defamation.

For more information, visit:
http://www.nbc4.tv/news/2937016/detail.html