Privacy Plaintiffs Lack Standing Against NBA 2K15’s Face-Scanning Technology
This is a putative class action lawsuit against Take-Two, the video game publisher. Plaintiffs allege that the “MyPlayer” feature on NBA 2K15 violated Illinois’ biometric information privacy statute. The feature allowed players to upload a face-scan and then use a…
The DOJ’s Busts of MyRedbook & Rentboy Show How Backpage Might Be Prosecuted (Guest Blog Post)
by guest blogger Cary Glynn [Eric’s introduction: Backpage has defeated numerous efforts by civil litigants and state AGs to shut it down, with substantial help from Section 230. These unsuccessful enforcement efforts have fueled a key narrative for SESTA that, because of Section…
Nigerians Phish a B2B Transaction & Steal $736k. Who Bears the Loss?–Beau Townsend Ford v. Don Hinds Ford
This case could be a law school exam. Beau Townsend Ford (the seller) was looking to unload Ford Explorers in bulk. Their sales guy connects with a person at Don Hinds Ford (the buyer). They had transacted with each other…
Ninth Circuit Blesses Amazon’s Terms of Service
Plaintiff appealed from a district court order granting Amazon’s motion to compel arbitration based on an arbitration clause in its “Conditions of Use.” My blog post on the trial court ruling: “Court Enforces Arbitration Clause in Amazon’s Terms of Service–Fagerstrom…
Face Scanning Lawsuit Against Shutterfly Survives Motion to Dismiss
This is a lawsuit against Shutterfly alleging violations of Illinois’ biometric information privacy act. The plaintiff, who is not a Shutterfly customer, alleged that a photograph of him was uploaded (by a Shutterfly customer) to Shutterfly’s site and the uploader…
No “Contract By Tweet” for Plaintiff Who Pitches Movie Idea via Social Media
This is an idea theft case based on the idea behind “Creed” the movie, a spinoff of the famous Rocky movies. Jarrett Alexander alleged that he came up with the idea for Creed, drafted the screenplay, and put together a…
Non-Compete Applies To Facebook Page for Unlaunched Business–Joseph v. O’Laughlin
This is another case where the defendant allegedly solicits customers or employees over social media in the face of a restrictive covenant. We recently blogged a couple of cases involving solicitations over LinkedIn. This case involves solicitations over Facebook. O’Laughlin…
Backpage Executives Must Face Money Laundering Charges Despite Section 230–People v. Ferrer
Yesterday, a California superior court judge dismissed pimping charge (due to Section 230) but did not dismiss money laundering charges against three Backpage executives. This ruling has potentially significant consequences for Backpage and its executives, the pending Congressional bills to…
Browsewrap/Clickwrap Distinction Vexes Another Court–Nevarez v. Ticketmaster
We just blogged about online contract formation yesterday, but it’s worth revisiting the topic so quickly because this case demonstrates another crash-and-burn failure of the browsewrap-clickwrap dichotomy. How many times must the “wrap” categorization fail before judges recognize that it’s…
Uber’s Contract Upheld in Second Circuit–Meyer v. Uber
This is a lawsuit alleging price fixing against Uber and its former CEO Travis Kalanick. Uber (and Kalanick) moved to compel arbitration on the basis of the arbitration clause in Uber’s terms of service. The district court found that Uber’s…