Pincus v. Yahoo! Inc.
Yahoo! has faced numerous legal disputes over the years.
FindWhat.com
In May 1999, GoTo.com secured a patent titled "System and method for influencing a position on a search result list generated by a computer network search engine," which was officially granted in July 2001 (US Patent 6269361). Additional patents were issued in Australia, with several others still pending approval.
Prior to Yahoo!'s acquisition of Overture, the company initiated legal action for patent infringement against FindWhat.com in January 2002 and later against Google in April of the same year.
The legal conflict with Google involved its AdWords platform. In February 2002, Google introduced AdWords Select, a feature enabling advertisers to bid for premium placement—mirroring Overture’s model of auctioning search result positions.
Following Yahoo!’s purchase of Overture, the dispute was resolved when Google transferred 2.7 million shares of its common stock to Yahoo! in exchange for a perpetual license to use the patented technology.
On March 12, 2012, Yahoo initiated legal proceedings against Facebook, accusing the social media company of infringing on ten of Yahoo’s patents.
Geocities
In 1999, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) accused GeoCities of breaching the Federal Trade Commission Act by engaging in deceptive practices concerning its privacy policy. GeoCities offered users free homepages and email accounts in exchange for personal data but allowed third-party advertisers to access this information without user consent.
At that time, GeoCities had amassed over 1.8 million registered users ("homesteaders"). Although its privacy policy assured users that personally identifiable information would not be shared without permission, GeoCities sold this data to external parties for unauthorized uses.
The FTC mandated that GeoCities cease misrepresenting how it collected and utilized personal information and barred the company from gathering data from children without parental approval.
Wang Xiaoning and Shi Tao
On April 18, 2007, Yu Ling, wife of Wang Xiaoning, filed a lawsuit against Yahoo! under human rights statutes including the Alien Torts Statute and the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA) in federal court located in San Francisco, California. The plaintiffs included Wang and Shi Tao, a Chinese journalist who was convicted after sending government directives related to the Tiananmen Square anniversary via email. Both men faced punishment after Yahoo!’s Chinese subsidiary disclosed their identifying details to authorities in China.
The case was brought forward by the World Organization for Human Rights USA. Morton Sklar, who was Executive Director at the time, labeled Yahoo as "guilty of corporate irresponsibility," emphasizing that the company knowingly provided information that led to arrests.
In 2006, Yahoo! executives testified before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, claiming they were unaware of Shi Tao’s charges when handing over his data. However, evidence from litigation revealed that Yahoo! had knowledge of these charges yet proceeded with disclosure.
Yahoo! executives appeared again before the Committee in November 2007. Committee Chair Rep. Tom Lantos criticized Yahoo! for failing to amend its prior testimony, describing it as either negligent or deliberately misleading. He directed CEO Jerry Yang and General Counsel Michael Callahan to issue public apologies to the families of those detained, which they subsequently did. Shortly thereafter, Yahoo! reached a settlement agreement.
Despite these developments, Shi Tao and Wang Xiaoning remain incarcerated.
Pincus v. Yahoo! Inc.
Pincus v. Yahoo! Inc., case number 13-cv-05326, was initiated in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California located in San Jose, California. Brian Pincus filed the complaint as a class-action representing individuals who were not Yahoo users but whose email addresses were allegedly accessed by Yahoo! to deliver targeted advertisements aimed at boosting revenue.