Judge OKs Facebook Lawsuit

The planet's largest social networking service can now be sued by anyone who claims advertisements appearing on their Facebook pages - those their friends have "liked" - violates commercial endorsement regulations. Friday, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh denied Facebook's request to dismiss the charges saying the company's sponsored ads violate California law.

At issue is Facebook's usage of targeted ads that appear on its members' pages, including the spots that appear with friends' names and pictures equating sponsorship. Judge Koh said the plaintiffs who filed the charges "articulated a theory of how they were economically injured by the misappropriation of their … likeness."

Facebook says the charges are "without merit," but the company is now reviewing the court's decision. In California, the state's Right of Publicity statute bans non-consensual use of someone's name, photo or other personal information for advertising purposes.

Facebook is arguing that, in context of a 'social network,' the company's members are 'public figures' which makes them eligible for the statute's "newsworthiness" exemption. The California rule says if there is news value regarding public figures, consent isn't necessary when using their image.

Proposal Replaces Controversial Internet Regs

Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) have introduced internet regulations to replace the polarizing Protect IP and SOPA proposals. Called the Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade (OPEN) Act, the proposal is aimed at "improving" the potentially harmful internet rules Congress is currently discussing.

Major internet companies have quickly voiced their support for the new bill, including AOL, eBay, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Mozilla, Twitter, Yahoo and Zynga. Proponents say the OPEN Act provides for the prosecution of illegal operations by foreign websites without inflicting "collateral damage" on legitimate, law-abiding U.S. internet companies.

Critics of PIPA and SOPA say those proposals prompt domestic court orders that force search engines to block links to all websites that are only "accused" of being associated with copyright infringement. The OPEN Act, supporters say, doesn't force search engines to block traffic in this way. Instead, the legislation "empowers" the International Trade Commission to take needed action against foreign websites committing copyright infringement… a "more suitable body" than the Dept. of Justice.

In related news, conjuring memories of George W. referring to "the internets" or the late Sen. Ted Stevens describing said internets as "a series of tubes," MotherBoard's Josh Kopstein issued this notice to Congress: 'It is no longer OK for you to not know how the internet works.'

More information on the OPEN Act can be found here.•

AT&T Drops T-Mobile Bid - Rutledge Joins Charter, Lawsuit Ensues - TWC, CVC Launch HBO Go

M&A: Reports hit the wire late Monday evening saying AT&T has agreed to drop its bid for T-Mobile. DP has details.  AT&T will enter into a roaming agreement with T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom ... along with paying a $4B break-up fee. What was once something that looked a slam-dunk has proved an embarrassment for a once-vaunted lobbying team.

In Court: Samsung has expanded its patent war with Apple over alleged infringements in Germany.  Reports say the new claims include the use of emoticons. :( --- WTH??? An Israeli entrepreneur changed his name to 'Mark Zuckerberg,' and Facebook is taking him to court. So… Facebook is quite literally suing Mark Zuckerberg. The strange story, here. --- In a case with potentially far-reaching consequences, a federal judge last week dismissed a criminal case against a man accused of stalking a religious leader on Twitter, saying that the Constitution protects “uncomfortable” speech online. NYT has the story.  --- British Telecom filed a lawsuit in the US claiming Google owes it billions in IP infringement damages. BBC has the story. --- Verizon and Cablevision announced Monday that they've settled their dispute over false advertising claims. --- Hartman Enterprises filed a $30M lawsuit against Cablevision after CEO Tom Rutledge unexpectedly stepped down alleging "financial impropriety" between the MSO and former Hartman subsidiary Vet2Vu. Hartman says Rutledge's surprise exit and the ongoing legal case "point to wider problems in Cablevision." The company told MediaBiz that "the claim against Cablevision is completely without merit, and we will defend against it vigorously." Shortly after, Charter issued a statement saying Rutledge had joined the company as president, CEO and director. He'll replace Mike Lovett, who quickly welcomed Tom, in mid-February. --- Meanwhile Cablevision's stock rallied 2% as some analysts said the reaction to Rutledge was "overblown." --- And, about Rutledge at Charter, ISI Media's Vijay Jayant says, "Christmas comes early" and rates Charter a 'buy.'

Disputes: Time Warner Cable said it won't take MSG and MSG+ off the air for the remainder of the NBA and NHL season. Instead, the MSO has offered to pay a 6.5% increase in monthly sub fees until the two sides can come to an agreement moving forward. TWC issued a statement saying: "The ball is in MSG's court." (The companies' current deal expires on Dec. 31.)  Releases don't mention FUSE.

Research: NPD In Stat says while global demand for cable STBs has been robust in 2011, North American shipments are decreasing due to cord-cutters and operators' pinched budgets. The firm says global shipments are on track to hit 55M this year, a 1% y/y decrease, with the downward trend to continue for 2012 and 2013. However, In Stat also says the ongoing shift from analog to digital in the developing world will boost cable STB demand again in 2014. --- comScore says Hulu saw a 23% y/y audience gain in November with 34.5M unique viewers. --- Parks Associates said smart TVs are seriously out-pacing 3D TVs when it comes to those who plan on buying a new set. The research firm says 1 in 5 BB HHs intend to buy a new flat-panel TV this month, 73% of which will opt for a connected set…

Mobile: Cablevision announced a deal to offer its iO customers access to HBO GO and Cinemax's MAX GO. Time Warner Cable unveiled a similar deal for both premium mobile products for its cable subs, too. Both companies will enable authenticated HBO and Cinemax subs access to the online services on home computers, iPads/iPhones and select Android devices. --- ZappoTV launched its free mobile media center app for iPads and iPhones.

Rules & Regs: Congress has opted not to take any action on spectrum legislation until after the new year.

$$$: Saudi Prince Walid bin Talal dumped $300M into Twitter, an investment representing about 3% of the company. --- Zynga didn't perform so well on it's first day of trading Friday as the newly-public social gaming company closed down 5%. The firm fell below its IPO price in 10 minutes.  It dropped another 5% yesterday. --- Azteca America said its upfront sales for 2011-2012 are up 33% from the same period last year.

Footprint: Cox launched 62 new HD channels for customers in Hampton Roads. --- Cablevision's Optimum Lightpath has connected more than 5K buildings to its all-fiber network throughout NY. --- SureWest is giving its commercial BB customers in Kansas City a free speed boost thanks to its DOCSIS 3.0 network upgrade.

Tech: Concurrent was awarded a U.S. patent for ad insertion in network DVR, VOD and other related time-shifted content.

SkyREPORT: Arianespace said its second Soyuz vehicle was successfully launched Friday placing the Pleiades 1A, ELISA and SSOT satellites into orbit. The company also said the next cluster of second-generation Globalstar satellites is ready for launch next week from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. --- GlobeCast and Travel Channel International are launching the Travel Channel HD via the MEASAT-3 platform to reach HHs across the Asia Pacific region. --- Hughes VP of sales Allen McCabe was elected to the SBCA's 2012 board of directors. --- European space company Astrium said it has completed its €673M ($875.14M) acquisition of Vizada.

Programming: Showtime's "Homeland" broke network records with its season finale up 58% from the excellent premiere!

Dist.: Cox launched "faith-based" network DayStar in Roanoke on its Advanced TV package.

Up, Over & Under There: Japanese MSO Jupiter Telecommunications posted its latest quarterly results showing the company now serves 3.64M cable customers, a 7% y/y increase. Combined RGUs (including BB & voice) total 6.88M, a 9% y/y increase.

People: The FCC appointed Henning Schulzrinne as new CTO. The agency also named Sean Lev as Deputy Counsel and Special Advisor to FCC Chair Julius Genachowski. --- The SCTE said three Comcast executives - Neil Smit, Comcast Cable CEO, and senior tech execs Tony Werner and John Schanz - will speak at the SCTE-Tuck Executive Leadership Program at Dartmouth College next year.

--- Catch today's media market news in The Evening BRIDGE. •