Mealey's Cyber Tech & E-Commerce
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March 15, 2021
Twitter Seeks Dismissal Of Sex-Trafficking Claims Over Tweeted Video Of Minor
SAN FRANCISCO — Stressing its commitment to combatting sex trafficking and exploitation, Twitter Inc. on March 10 moved in California federal court to dismiss child pornography and sex-trafficking claims brought it, arguing that it was not a knowing or willing participant in the posting of an illicit video to its social media platform and that it did not benefit from the post, which was ultimately removed.
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March 12, 2021
U.S. Supreme Court Seeks Response From Employer On Free Speech Petition
WASHINGTON, D.C — The U.S. Supreme Court on March 10 requested a response from the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tenn., by April 9 regarding a former employee’s petition asking whether her alleged free speech rights for a Facebook post concerning the 2016 presidential election that contained a racial slur may be curtailed due to the government entity’s “purely speculative concerns of public perception.”
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March 12, 2021
2nd Circuit Sets Argument Date For Website Copyright, Trade Dress Dispute
NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on March 11 set a May 6 argument date for an appeal concerning personal jurisdiction and alter ego liability in a dispute over two websites found to infringe the copyright and trade dress of a graduation apparel company’s website.
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March 12, 2021
Zillow Again Heading To Trial In Washington Federal Copyright Case
SEATTLE — A motion by Zillow Group Inc. for judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) that copyright registrations owned by a real estate photography firm are invalid was denied March 10 by a federal judge in Washington, who instead directed the parties to prepare for an upcoming trial on whether Zillow’s infringement was innocent.
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March 11, 2021
Judge Tosses Insurer’s Product Liability, Misrepresentation, Fraud Claims Against Amazon
CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois on March 9 granted Amazon.com Inc.’s motion for summary judgment on claims for product liability, negligent misrepresentation and statutory consumer fraud in an insurer’s subrogation lawsuit alleging that Amazon and two Chinese companies are responsible for defective hoverboards that purportedly caused fire damage to its insureds’ home.
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March 11, 2021
Twitter Sues To Block Texas AG’s Investigation After Trump Account Suspension
SAN FRANCISCO — Citing violation of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Twitter Inc. sued Texas Attorney General (AG) Ken Paxton in California federal court on March 8, claiming that the AG’s civil investigative demand (CID) into its internal content moderation practices constitutes an effort “to intimidate, harass, and target” it in retaliation for the suspension of former President Donald J. Trump’s social media account.
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March 10, 2021
Judge Dismisses Amended UCL Counterclaim As Inapplicable To Contract Dispute
LOS ANGELES — A health care provider’s amended counterclaim against a software company for alleged violations of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) was dismissed with prejudice Feb. 19 for lack of standing by a California federal judge who found that the counterclaim consisted of “a business-to-business contractual dispute” to which UCL does not apply.
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March 09, 2021
Remote Review Of Source Code OK’d In ISP Copyright Case Due To COVID Restrictions
DENVER — A Colorado federal magistrate judge on March 8 issued a supplemental stipulated protective order allowing the plaintiff record labels in a copyright infringement suit against an internet service provider (ISP) to conduct their review of Charter Communications Inc.’s computer source code remotely due to restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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March 08, 2021
App Developers’ Counsel Not Sanctioned For Disclosing Confidential Apple Information
OAKLAND, Calif. — Although counsel for two app developers suing Apple Inc. for antitrust violations recited confidential materials in open court, a California federal magistrate judge on March 4 held that because the information had been made public otherwise, the attorney did not actually violate a protective order, leading the magistrate to admonish the attorney but otherwise deny Apple’s motion for sanctions.
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March 05, 2021
11th Circuit: Aggregator Lacked Implied License To Use Copyrighted Works
ATLANTA — In a March 3 holding, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals left intact a jury’s verdict that a content aggregator incurred liability for copyright infringement when copying and publishing the content of a blog.
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March 03, 2021
Class Suit Over Yearbook Photos On Ancestry.com Dismissed For No Standing
SAN FRANCISCO — Two California residents who filed a putative class complaint against the companies that operate Ancestry.com for the inclusion of their yearbook photos and information on the website’s database failed to show that they have standing under Article III of the U.S. Constitution, a federal magistrate judge in California ruled March 1, alternatively finding that the defendants are immune from liability under the Communications Decency Act (CDA) and giving the plaintiffs 21 days to file an amended complaint with a blackline of the changes.
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March 03, 2021
In Win For Samsung, Federal Circuit Declares Patent Indefinite
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A stipulation that Samsung Electronics America Inc. and its subsidiaries did not infringe various claims of a patented method of delivering software application packages will not be undone, in view of a decision by the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on March 2 to declare the asserted technology invalid.
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March 02, 2021
6th Circuit Reinstates Ohio State Trademark Claims Against E-tailer
CINCINNATI — In a Feb. 25 holding, the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said an Ohio federal judge engaged in an overly narrow reading of the Lanham Act when dismissing allegations of trademark infringement leveled by The Ohio State University (OSU).
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March 02, 2021
Amici Support School District In High Court Suit Over Students’ Online Behavior
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States was one of several amici curiae that voiced their support for a Pennsylvania school district that disciplined a student for online postings, asking the U.S. Supreme Court in briefs filed March 1 to vacate a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that established a categorical rule against schools’ discipline of students for off-campus behavior.
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February 26, 2021
Targeted Advertising Patent Challenged By Twitter, Google
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In a Feb. 24 petition for inter partes review (IPR), Twitter Inc. and Google LLC maintain that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board should cancel 19 claims of a patented method for targeting Internet users with advertisements targeted to computer usage.
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February 24, 2021
Judge Won’t Compel Arbitration Of UCL Claims Based On Online ‘Click Box’ Agreement
SAN DIEGO, Calif. — A California federal judge on Feb. 8 found that a consumer’s clicking an online “click box” did not constitute an agreement to arbitrate his claims that an online retailer engaged in false advertising and violated California’s unfair competition law (UCL) but agreed to dismiss some of the consumer’s claims as insufficiently pleaded.
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February 22, 2021
Ad Firm’s UCL, Interference Counterclaims Axed In Facebook Data Gathering Row
SAN FRANCISCO — An advertising company’s counterclaims of intentional interference and violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL), which were filed in response to a computer fraud and breach of contract lawsuit filed by Facebook Inc. over the firm’s data-gathering practices, were dismissed Feb. 19, with a California federal magistrate judge finding the claims to be insufficiently supported but granting leave for some of them to be amended.
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February 17, 2021
9th Circuit Won’t Rethink Ruling Against Google In AdWords Contract Dispute
SAN FRANCISCO — The same two Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel members who ruled against Google LLC in a breach of contract lawsuit over Google LLC’s AdWords online advertising program voted on Feb. 12 to deny the tech firm’s motion for rehearing in which it raised questions of standing under Article III of the U.S. Constitution.
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February 17, 2021
Facebook Accused Of Monopolizing Social Media Market Via Data Collection
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Facebook Inc. was hit with an antitrust class complaint on Feb. 15 when one of its users filed suit in California federal court alleging that the social network wielded its valuable and voluminous trove of user data to maintain its dominance in the social media market by eliminating potential competitors.
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February 17, 2021
Suit Over WeChat Ban Stayed In Trial Court, 9th Circuit Pending Review
SAN FRANCISCO — One day after a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel stayed the appeal of an injunction preventing implementation of former President Donald J. Trump’s ban of the WeChat social networking app, the trial court where the case was originally filed followed suit on Feb. 12, holding the case in abeyance pending review of the underlying executive order by the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), per a stipulation by the parties.