Section 230 Helps Salesforce Defeat Sex Trafficking Lawsuit–Doe v. Salesforce
Salesforce provided SaaS services to Backpage. On that basis, the plaintiffs sought to hold Salesforce liable for any Backpage-caused sex trafficking victimization. This represents an attempt (possibly unprecedented) to impose tertiary liability for sex trafficking. The advertisers, such as pimps,…
Strike 3’s Copyright Litigation Campaign Completely Strikes Out
Another judge denies an unmasking subpoena to Strike 3, even though the judge has previously issued subpoenas to Strike 3, and even though it may mean that Strike 3’s infringement case will fail and Strike 3 will be left without…
State Court Rejects Prager University’s Lawsuit Against YouTube
Prager University publishes videos on YouTube. YouTube demonetized some of its videos and placed some in “restricted mode,” meaning that users of YouTube’s restricted mode functionality won’t see them. Prager claimed that YouTube took these steps due to anti-conservative bias,…
A Thumbs-Up Emoji Doesn’t Mean That Dad Disavowed His Child–Bardales v. Lamothe
This is a lawsuit over where a child should live. The mom moved from Honduras to the United States with her minor child. The dad remained in Honduras and initiated legal proceedings to bring the child back to Honduras. These…
Internet Access Provider May Be Vicariously Liable for Subscribers’ BitTorrent Downloads–Warner Bros. v. Charter
This is another copyright infringement lawsuit against an Internet access provider for subscribers’ allegedly infringing P2P file sharing activity. It extends the copyright owners’ successes in two similar lawsuits, BMG v. Cox and UMG v. Grande. In this ruling, the…
Your Periodic Reminder that Blogging About Litigation Can Generate More Litigation–Wexler v. Dorsey & Whitney
As I’ve mentioned many times, blogging about lawsuits has its own legal peril. By definition, I’m commenting on people who’ve shown a willingness to litigate, so there’s a higher-than-average chance they will want to litigate against me. Though I’m quite…
Rounding Up Two Online Contract Formation Cases
Two more samples of what I’m seeing in the online contract formation caselaw. Reminder: if you’re using some variation of the “wrap” terminology, UR DOIN IT WRONG. Phillips v. Neutron Holdings, Inc., 2019 WL 4861435 (N.D. Tex. Oct. 2, 2019)….
Roundup of the House Commerce Committee Hearing on Section 230
Yesterday, the House Energy & Commerce Committee (the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology and the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce) held a hearing called “Fostering a Healthier Internet to Protect Consumers.” The hearing page. This post rounds up some…
The PLAN Act Proposes to Amend Section 230 to “Protect”…Landlords and Hotel Chains?
This is my third time in 2019 blogging proposed Section 230 amendments. The other two bills, from Sen. Hawley and Rep. Gosar, propose structural reforms to Section 230–to mandate political neutrality and ban any content moderation not required by law,…
Call for Participation: WIPIP 2020, Santa Clara University, Feb. 7-8, 2020 #WIPIP2020
The High Tech Law Institute invites you to participate in the 17th annual Works-in-Progress Intellectual Property Colloquium (WIPIP), February 7-8, 2020, Santa Clara University School of Law, Santa Clara, California. The colloquium provides intellectual property scholars with a forum to…