California dreaming? Not for online businesses
Posted by jcerb on January 31, 2009
Most online business have terms and conditions which require that litigation brought relating to those businesses be brought in the business’ preferred jurisdiction. That, of course, make sense for the business, particularly smaller businesses which don’t have the resources for lawsuits brought over the entire country. Of course, the flip side is that unhappy consumers end up with a lousy draw, and may be forced to bring any litigation in an unfriendly jurisdiction quite far away from home.
Apparently California is willing to take a second look at those clauses, at least where California public policy is concerned. In a case involving the massive disclosure of data by AOL, a California court has decided to permit the litigation to proceed in California, notwithstanding the jurisdiction clause in AOL’s contract with its customers. That clause requires that any litigation be brought in Virginia.
Given the outrage over this particular incident, the decision may not be surprising, but it may well pave the way for more discretionary application of online jurisdiction clauses
