Woman Sues Yahoo Because Search On Her Name Links To Porn And Malware

from the and-now-it'll-link-to-bogus-lawsuits dept

Eric Goldman alerts us to the latest questionable lawsuit against a search engine — this time involving a woman suing Yahoo due to her unhappiness concerning search results on her own name. You have to read Goldman’s full description of the case — I can’t do it justice — but the woman appears to claim that she’s an important figure and the only one in the world with her name (Beverly Stayart or Bev Stayart), and was greatly upset to find that when she searched on her name, there were links to questionable sites — some of which showed adult videos or had her antivirus software warn her of malicious attacks. It’s unclear why the woman thinks she owns the rights to all search results on her name, but it seems quite likely that Section 230 safe harbors should protect Yahoo from any sort of liability. Of course, with articles like this one and Goldman’s, it seems likely that search results will show plenty of other links now as well.

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Companies: yahoo

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Comments on “Woman Sues Yahoo Because Search On Her Name Links To Porn And Malware”

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63 Comments
mermaldad (profile) says:

Go figure...

She’s a legal assistant and CFO of a law firm. My guess is that she’s been in the legal environment long enough that the thought of suing when someone displeases you just comes naturally. Yet another example of the Streisand Effect.

Important announcement for all people (and search engines) out there: Beverly Stayart does not want her name associated with Porn. Bev Stayart != Porn. When you think of Beverly Stayart, do not think of porn. Glad I could be of service.

Anonymous Coward says:

So people still use Yahoo? Maybe the problem is that since the internet is only used to get porn and Yahoo knows it, it actually returns porn for any search. The most I could get (other than blogs on the trial) was a canadian blog where they were calling her “some nut” (does that mean she’s famous?) because of her pro-animal choices.

Anonymous Coward says:

I dated a Beverly Stayart while in HS, probably not the same one (I was drinking back then). We had sex, then stopped when she went into porn. Became a porn star I think. Is it porn star or pornstar?

Anyway, Beverly Stayart – There is and always will be a hole in my body since you left. Beverly Stayart, if you ever cum back and fill the void you left, I would be forever grateful.

Anonymous Coward says:

So this Beverly Stayart person was looking for porn and found herself? How freaky is that. I hope she’s suing Beverly Stayart as well.

Sounds like Beverly Stayart is not very competent where law is concerned. Litigation should never be filed when one is angry or Hot. Girls should be taught that when they are teenagers! Even Japanese schoolgirls know enough not to get their panties in a bunch over search results. Beverly Stayart should be taught that her case is Barely Legal. I know society has Gone Wild, but cmon Beverly Stayart!

Anonymous Coward says:

Puts "more" in MORON

This woman thinks that she’s the only one with her name. So if someone with the same name commits a felony, can she sue that person too? After all, news outlets might put the story on air or in print. Could she sue those places for libel/slander for printing her name in conjunction with the crime?

She needs to fill out the ID-ten-T form (aka ID10T form)

Chronno S. Trigger says:

Re: Google?

Did you? All I’m finding from her name is seal_2.jpg and seal_1.jpg. It’s a little funny but that’s it. The web search didn’t turn up anything ether, and I looked threw several pages.

Ether Yahoo “fixed” it or she was searching for something else. Maybe she has spyware on her PC that redirects to porn. A client of ours had that on one of their PCs. Every time you tried to go to AVG, BOOBS.

Never Underestimate Greed and Stupidity says:

Searching Anything Gets You a Porn Link

She is a complete idiot and/or a greedy punk and I hope the judge makes her pay all of the court costs and all of Yahoo’s expenses.

I found the link. It’s hots.stayart.ze.cx tempting you with nude pictures of beverly dangelo [sic]. Thus the link to it by searching beverly stayart.

Why does she not sue the web site owner? Simple it’s a Steve Dallas law suit – go after the party with the most money no matter how incidental the connection to the alleged offense.

Stuart says:

Beverly Stayart never did porn.
Beverly Stayart dose not do goatse either.
Beverly Stayart never did blow job porn.
Nor did Beverly Stayart do any hand jobs I know of.
If Beverly Stayart ever did anal porn it would be a surprise to me.
Anyone who quotes Beverly Stayart as saying “Porn has been very, very good to me.” would be mistaken.
Beverly Stayart is not a porn star.
Beverly Stayart dose not have a “Bangin Ass”

Fred Otto says:

Yahoo and Various a/k/a Adult Friend Finder

Before you get too complacent, you might want to check to see that there is no other Bev Stayart in the White pages or on any of the posting regarding this Bev Stayart. So I am not so sure that Yahoo will have immunity once they were notified to quite associating her name with Cialis, Viagra and the porn.

Also Adult Freind Finder used her name without her permission in the title tag for their page and also as a Meta Tag.

Further, more this is a Wisconsin jury and not a California jury.

Wait & we will see who wins this one.

F. Otto

Anonymous Coward says:

She sent out sexual content? So Beverly Stayart is involved in the porn business? Just curious.

I doubt, however, that she has a shaved pussy or that there are pictures of her wide open beaver.

How dare a search engine associate her name – Beverly Stayart – with things like that, or lesbian erotica, or child porn or anything at all of the sort.

no way says:

I have the same problem!

I googled (not yahoo) my name with quotes a couple of days ago. The first 3 links were valid. The other 450 are all porn sites! I’m pretty upset about it. How did they even get my name and why would they bother to do this? Most of these sites are domains that have been hijacked as well as my name. I’ve never had anything to do with these sites and have led a clean life.

I’ve been spending hours on end trying to write to the webmaster of each of these sites and politely ask them to remove my name. It’s a very frustrating and time consuming process. I’ve actually only been able to get 3 sites removed so far.

I’m in college right now in the health field. My fear is that when I graduate I won’t be able to find a job because I look like a porn-freak.

This is serious and these search engines need to find a way to make it easier for us to deal with these types of issues.

Carl Johnson says:

Re: I have the same problem!

You are right that the search engines need to find a way to . . . deal with these issues. As long as they feel they have no liability they will continue to post pornography under the names of innocent people. There are thousands of people who have been damaged by the reckless conduct of the search engines in this regard. The “tech” people who are so arrogant will find they no longer have jobs when the search engines begin their next round of lay-offs.

Eric Ghoul says:

Beverly Stayart v. Yahoo

If Eric Goldman had even a basic legal education, he would know that a lawyer would not be allowed to file a case in any jurisdiction unless he/she was admitted there at the time of the filing of the lawsuit. Also, had Eric Goldman checked the White Pages, he would have seen the following, “There is one unique Beverly Stayart in the United States.” A map on the same page of this White Pages result shows that this Beverly Stayart resides in Wisconsin, the same state in which her lawsuit was filed. Beverly Stayart previously resided in Illinois, so any address history for Beverly Stayart showing Illinois is for the same Beverly Stayart now residing in Wisconsin. I guess the techies in California are so terrified of having their jobs shipped to China and India that they are blindly lashing out at any threat they perceive. This is undoubtedly attributable to their inferior education as “techies.” Even the techies in China and India surpass the Silicon Valley techies or the California techies would not be losing their jobs to vastly superior workers in China and India. By the way, Eric, we share the same first name and last initial, so I guess we are brothers of sorts!

L. P. W. says:

Is it true that if you attend Marquette or U.W. law schools you are not required to take or pass the two bar exams required in all the other states? Apparently it is. Quoting from the article “Challenge to ‘diploma privilege’ reinstated by U.S. Court of Appeals,” the author Alex De Grand stated, “A class of recent graduates from ABA-accredited schools outside Wisconsin who seek a law license in Wisconsin argued that the privilege infringes on the Commerce Clause because only graduates of the law schools at Marquette and the University of Wisconsin benefit from it.” I never thought these two schools were any good. But apparently both Eric Goldman, who has commented on this case, and the judge in the case graduated from Marquette.

Mike Frizzi (profile) says:

Wow…she thinks she is such a unique being that nobody else can use or have her name. Does she really think she has any chance of winning, or does she just want to push the sites with her name on them further down the search results by filing this frivolous suit and getting the accompanying media coverage? Still, I wonder how her name ended up turning results for malware and pornography…Maybe some starlet user her name as an alias…unreal.

friz says:

Mike Frizzi,

Did you graduate from grade school? It is incumbent upon the defense to prove there is another Beverly or Bev Stayart. If you will check all of the people search directories, you will find there is only one Beverly/Bev Stayart in the U.S.A.

Who is named Mike Frizzi other than frustrated nobodies? What a moron you are, Frizzi! Are you a janitor at Yahoo? A job as a custodian is probably too challenging for you!

Bob says:

Bev Stayart has won a legal victory in Walworth County Circuit Court, Wisconsin, against Various, d/b/a AdultFriendFinder and AdultFriendFinder.com. On May 16, 2012, Judge James L. Carlson ruled that Stayart stated a claim for violation of her right of privacy and publicity under Wisconsin law. Judge Carlson denied Various’ motion to dismiss. The case is Stayart v. Various, d/b/a AdultFriendFinder and AdultFriendFinder.com, Case No. 2011-CV-1115. Stayart alleged that Various used her name on its website AdultFriendFinder.com, as well as on websites of its affiliates, to drive traffic to its online dating service and increase membership. Bev Stayart is represented by John M. Murphy of Murphy, Volbrecht & Kuehn, S.C., in Elkhorn, Wisconsin.

Michael says:

All the anonymous bloggers will now have to take back every false statement they made about Bev Stayart’s lawsuit. Judge Randa in his 2009 decision authorized Stayart to proceed in state court against Various. Judge James L. Carlson has now ruled that Stayart has stated a cause of action against Various for invasion of her right of privacy and violation of her publicity rights under Wisconsin law.

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