Yahoo! Fails Again to Stop Lawsuit Over Nude Photos

[The Straight Story]

Yahoo! Fails Again to Stop Lawsuit Over Nude Photos

An Oregon judge has refused to dismiss an unprecedented breach-of-contract lawsuit, finding that a woman can sue Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) for breaking a promise to remove nude photos of her from its website.

U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken's decision is the latest milestone in a four-year-old case which she had previously dismissed in November 2005. An appeals court reinstated part of the case in May, finding Cecilia Barnes could proceed against Yahoo! on the theory that its promise to remove the photos amounted to an enforceable contract.

In Oregon, a “promissory estoppel” claim requires:

(1) a promise; (2) which the promisor, as a reasonable person, could foresee would induce conduct of the kind which occurred; (3) actual reliance on the promise; (4) resulting in a substantial change in position.

Barnes' ex-boyfriend posted the photos without her consent in Yahoo!'s profiles section. The key evidence in her lawsuit is a March 29, 2005 phone conversation in which Yahoo! director of communications Mary Osako allegedly assured her that Yahoo! “would put a stop to the unauthorized profiles depicting Plaintiff Barnes.”

http://www.onpointnews.com/

[Kaleva]

1. There's a site loaded with nude pics of ex-wives and former girlfriends

Ladies, if you don't want to take the chance that thousands of men may see close up pics of your fertile field, then don't let your hubby or boyfriend take such pics.

[Statistical]

2. The point is that yahoo made a promise.

Had they not promised to remove the pics it is unlikely her lawsuit would be sucessful.

She could sue her ex-husband for posting the pics as her (fraud, identity theft) but not yahoo.

Morale of the story: If you make a promise, keep it.