A brief note this Saturday morning… Conversations around my last post, about FTC taking action on anti-competitive Code of Ethics provisions, have raised an interesting and salient point. The best example comes from the comments, where Brian Rayl writes: Despite what the FTC states in terms of “soliciting other’s clients” there are very strict laws … Read more
A brief question, born out of discussions online and offline in the wake of the Zillow-Trulia deal…. Let me set the stage. More than a few people think that Zillow will ultimately want a piece of the commission (as evidence, they point to the brokerage licenses that MarketLeader once owned, which then Trulia owned, and … Read more
The judge in the non-compete-disguised-as-a-trade-secrets case between Move & NAR v. Zillow & Errol Samuelson has issued a preliminary injunction that looks like a big win for REALTORS and REALTOR-lookalikes. Inman News has the story, and the actual order itself (PDF). As a an interested bystander, the whole thing is sort of sad. Wish my friends would … Read more
The judge in the non-compete-disguised-as-a-trade-secrets case between Move & NAR v. Zillow & Errol Samuelson has issued a preliminary injunction that looks like a big win for REALTORS and REALTOR-lookalikes. Inman News has the story, and the actual order itself (PDF). As a an interested bystander, the whole thing is sort of sad. Wish my friends would … Read more
File this one under: “There Is No Box” kind of thinking. The reason why this isn’t a Black Paper (yet) is that I haven’t checked with enough lawyers to see all of the possible pitfalls, but that might happen sooner rather than later. A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I was having an … Read more
Inman News reports that the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against Realcomp II in a years-long case: Michigan’s largest multiple listing service “unreasonably restrained competition” among real estate brokers by refusing to transmit exclusive agency property listings favored by discount brokers to Realtor.com and other public-facing Web sites, a federal appeals court has ruled. … Read more
I’m reasonably certain that 90%+ of my audience — that would be you — have no idea what Aereo is. And until recently, there was no real reason to know, unless you lived in the NYC area and just looooved over-the-air TV. But last Friday, the US Supreme Court chose to hear a case involving … Read more
A quick addendum (you’ll get the joke soon) to my post yesterday…. From the comments, a little discussion erupted because MRED — the Chicagoland area’s regional MLS — instituted a new rule about putting listings into the MLS, unless the seller opts-out. And then MRED provided a form: Seller Listing Exemption Addendum-1. Click through if you … Read more
This is a quick note. I found something recently that bears directly on my post on Employer Liability for Employee Social Media, and I’m somewhat hopeful that we’ll see more clarity on this topic. Michael Yon is an independent journalist who reports from Iraq, Afghanistan, and other parts of the world where the U.S. military … Read more