Most Viewed Threat Entries

In late 2006, restaurant franchisor Quiznos and video-sharing site iFilm co-sponsored a nationwide contest, “Quiznos v. Subway TV Ad Challenge,” inviting members of the public to submit videos comparing a Quiznos sandwich to a Subway sandwich using the theme "meat, no meat."...

Xcentric Ventures, LLC, operates the Bad Business Bureau, which provides a forum in which consumers may accuse companies and individuals of various "rip-off" and "bad business" practices. This forum is located on a website that may be accessed through either of two...

The blog "Orthomom" is operated anonymously. Comments critical of Pamela Greenbaum, a Lawrence, Long Island School Board member, appeared on the blog in January 2007. Greenbaum objected to both primary blog content and a user comment. In February 2007, Greenbaum filed a...

On October 12, 2007, the Islamic Society of Arlington, Texas, and several other Islamic organizations sued Joe Kaufman for libel and intentional infiction of emotional distress in Texas state court. In addition to seeking libel damages, the plaintiffs asked the court to...

Susan and Robert Johnson, owners of Cozy Kittens Cattery, LLC, sued consumer review site ComplaintsBoard.com, its (alleged) publishers Elizabeth Arden and Michelle Reitenger, and two ComplaintsBoard users who commented on a complaint thread about Susan Johnson and her cat breeding...

Donald and Janet Maxon served a pre-litigation petition for discovery on Ottawa Publishing Company, the operator of mywebtimes.com, a website for The Times, a local newspaper based in Ottawa, IL.  The Maxons sought to force The Times to...

In March 2007, the Blue Mountain School District suspended two eighth-grade students after they created a fake MySpace profile for James McGonigle, principal of the Blue Mountain Middle School in Pennsylvania. The MySpace page did not identify McGonigle by name, but...

On November 14, 2007, BESCR, a court reporting service company otherwise known as Eastwood-Stein Deposition Management, and two of its principals, sued Trisha Goodman, an Oklahoma-based court reporter, and others for statements appearing on Goodman's blog, "Let's Stop Eastwood-Stein."...

The following is a user-submitted description: Mortgage lender Mortgage Specialists filed a petition for injunctive relief against Implode-Explode Heavy Industries, a website that reports and publishes stories concerning the US housing-finance sector.  In one story, Implode Explode covered Mortgage Specialists,...

Justin Leonard of Scottsdale, Arizona publishes three websites: infomercialblog.com, infomercialratings.com, and infomercialscams.com. These websites give consumers the opportunity to voice their criticisms and defenses of various products and services. On September 21, 2007, DirectBuy, a company...

On December 11, 2007, Best Buy sent a cease-and-desist letter to Scott Beale of Laughing Squid for reporting on an "Improv Everywhere" prank and their sales of T-shirts mocking the Best Buy logo. Best Buy claimed the post infringed its trademarks...

Benjamin Schreiber and Ryan Todd, two 16-year old Clark High School students, posted a false MySpace page about their assistant principal Anna Draker in March 2006. The page was online for approximately one month before Draker learned of it. She contacted MySpace,...

On July 29, 2003, the Dallas Morning News published in print and on its website an allegedly defamatory article by financial writer Scott Burns about an accelerated mortgage program offered by Nationwide Bi-Weekly Administration, a company that provides mortgage payment services for...

An Illinois grand jury subpoenaed The Alton Telegraph newspaper in September 2008, seeking the  names, addresses and IP addresses of readers who posted comments to TheTelegraph website under five pseudonyms. The subpoena required that the newspaper's keeper of records appear...

Stephen Moldow established the website "Eye on Emerson" in late 1999. He posted information about local government activities, including minutes of meetings of the borough council, planning board and board of education. Public opinion polls were conducted on the site, which included...

Robbins wrote a blog post that criticized a group of abutters for their actions in delaying the implementation of a dredging project through their appeals and interventions in numerous fora. The lead abutter, Joe Dugas, and his lawyer, Paul Revere,...

Samantha Ronson, a prominent DJ and friend of movie star Lindsey Lohan, sued popular celebrity blogger Mario Lavandeira (aka Perez Hilton) and others for libel in California state court in June 2007. According to Ronson's complaint, the online magazine "Celebrity Babylon"...

In mid-2005, Mobilisa, Inc., a Washington company that provides wireless and mobile communication systems to government and military clients, filed a John Doe lawsuit in state court in Washington. According to a court opinion in related litigation in Arizona, the dispute arose...

In April 2007, five paparazzi photography agencies sued Mario Lavandeira, operator of popular celebrity gossip blog, perezhilton.com, in federal district court in California for allegedly posting their photographic images on his blog without permission. The complaint alleges copyright infringement, unfair competition under...

Thomas Garrett, a Virginia chicken farmer, publicist, and self-proclaimed "Hollywood insider," sued the publisher of The Hook, a weekly newspaper in Charlottesville that also publishes content on its website. The complaint, filed in Virginia state court in...