Announcing the 2024 Edition of My Internet Law Casebook
I’m pleased to announce the 2024 edition (15th edition) of my Internet Law casebook, Internet Law: Cases & Materials. The book is available as a PDF at Gumroad for $10, a Kindle ebook for $9.99, a softcover version for $20, and a hardcover version for $28. [All…
Section 230 Helps Substack Defeat a Defamation Claim–Smith v. Substack
This case involves the CancelWatch “blog” on Substack, which says: “We report the activists trying to ruin people’s lives and careers.” In July 2023, it made a post entitled “Oliver D. Smith” that details Smith’s online activities and explains why…
Section 230 Doesn’t Preempt Utah’s Minor Protection in Social Media Act–NetChoice v. Reyes
Utah passed a terrible law claiming to be “for the kids,” which are increasingly prevalent at the state level. The court summarizes some of the law’s obligations: the Act requires covered websites to “implement an age assurance system,” “limit the…
Ryanair v. Booking CFAA Trial Ends with Strangest Possible Outcome (Guest Blog Post)
Ryanair recently “prevailed” in its CFAA claim in its litigation against Booking.com. I use scare quotes around “prevailed” because, according to the jury verdict, the actual damages suffered by Ryanair were $5,000. $5,000 just so happens to be the exact…
Court Blows Up Gmail’s Section 230 Protection, But Allegations of Biased Spam Filtering Still Fail–Republican National Committee v. Google
Prior blog post. If I say so myself, it was a really good post–you should read it first and then read this post. In my prior post, I wrote: “I hope you enjoy these 2,800 words on legal topics you…
Government Agencies Can’t Use Dumb Word Filters to Screen Social Media Comments–PETA v. Tabak
PETA promotes its animal rights agenda by making lots of online comments, an advocacy technique that may cross over from being aggressive to being annoying. In this case, they were such a nuisance on NIH’s Facebook and Instagram posts that…
Google Can Terminate Account Based on CSAM Allegations–Baker v. Google
The scenario: Google thought that a user uploaded CSAM and terminated her account. The user disagreed, appealed, and got nowhere. The user took the matter to court (pro se), where the lawsuit failed: Contract Breach. “Plaintiff does not allege any…
Section 230 Preempts FOSTA Claim–Doe v. WebGroup Czech Republic
This is a FOSTA case. It reached the 9th Circuit on personal jurisdiction grounds. The 9th Circuit held that some foreign defendants were subject to jurisdiction. On remand, the court dismisses the remaining defendants primarily due to Section 230, with…
Everything You Wanted to Know About the Moody v. NetChoice Supreme Court Opinion
Normally, when a major Internet Law development occurs, I write two posts. First, I write up a quick hit for the media. See my short statement on the Moody v. NetChoice. decision. I then follow up with a comprehensive blog…
Competitor Isn’t Responsible for Google Knowledge Panel’s Contents–International Star Registry v. RGIFTS
This lawsuit involves competitors in the “star registry” niche 🙄. The incumbent is the International Star Registry of Illinois. The challenger is RGIFTS. The incumbent doesn’t like the competition and is clinging to its very descriptive trademarks to try to…