Well, LinkedIn was hoping to dodge this lawsuit but the courts have decided that they did the wrong thing and must answer for it. Basically the issue is LinkedIn’s misappropriation of users’ contact emails. It is alleged that LinkedIn downloaded the contact lists of users which it then later used to try and gain more users. Users originally sent recruitment requests to their contacts but it was when LinkedIn would send unsolicited reminders that lines were crossed. It was U.S. district judge Lucy H. Koh who decided that this practice by the business social media site made it eligible to be sued.
Judge Koh deemed that these repeated reminders that were not instigated by the user could be seen as reputation damaging. It could potentially convince their contacts that the person is unable to take a hint that they do not wish to join the network. Initially claims were made of violations of wire taping laws but these were quashed by the judge who was willing to allow proceedings to go ahead on the grounds of “right of publicity” instead. Essentially because LInkedIn used users’ names to back up these unsolicited reminders they were violating the law. It’s basically like using a celebrity’s name to promote your business without their consent.
