Ninth Circuit Allows TOS Amendment by Email–Ireland-Gordy v. Tile
[This is a non-precedential opinion, and the court unhelpfully cuts many factual and doctrinal corners.] The plaintiffs claim that bad actors misused Tile’s tracking devices to stalk them. The plaintiffs (as a class action) sued Tile for how it designed…
If You Don’t Keep Good Records, Don’t Be Surprised if Your TOS Formation Fails in Court–White v. PayPal
“Plaintiffs allege that Honey “misrepresents its ability to find the ‘best discount codes’ for consumers” and instead “prioritizes coupon codes from Honey’s partner merchants,” giving users “inferior discounts, or no discounts at all, while Honey and its merchant partners profit.””…
Pre-Publication Content Moderation Can Disqualify Services from the DMCA 512(c) Safe Harbor–McGucken v. ShutterStock
The Second Circuit’s 512 jurisprudence is an unpredictable roller coaster. I can think of at least two other times when the Second Circuit has reversed a clean lower court ruling to unleash further plaintiff-favorable doctrinal chaos (the Viacom v. YouTube…
The Sixth Circuit Wades Into Online TOS Formation (and Leaves Me More Confused Than Ever)–Dahdah v. LowerMyBills
TL;DR: The court provides this overview: LowerMyBills.com refers internet users who are interested in refinancing their home mortgages to affiliated lending partners, including Rocket Mortgage. The website tells users that they will agree to its hyperlinked “Terms of Use”—including a…
Relitigating hiQ Labs and Scraping Through the Lens of DMCA 1201 Anti-Circumvention (Guest Blog Post)
by guest blogger Kieran McCarthy A series of prominent web-scraping lawsuits are revisiting the fundamentals of public data access. And in so doing, with a slight reframing of a relatively settled legal issue, major platforms are challenging the presumption that…
AT&T Blocks T-Mobile’s Data Portability Efforts (Guest Blog Post)
By guest blogger Kieran McCarthy If you have ever wondered why big incumbents keep running to the Northern District of Texas the moment someone builds a tool that makes switching easier, comparing prices easier, or generally makes the internet work…
2025 Internet Law Year-in-Review
2025 is the Trump 2.0 era, so you won’t find much upbeat news in this Internet Law year-in-review. 10. Are Websites Legally Equivalent to Exploding Coke Bottles? Traditionally, tort law distinguishes between tangible items (chattels) and intangible services. Several doctrines…
Too Many Courts Are Letting States Take Wrecking Balls to the Internet (Roundup)
‘Tis the season for Internet censorship. 🎄 More accurately, Internet censorship is now a four-season sport in state legislatures. There is not a stereotypical red state/blue state divide. Instead, the “divide” is between pro-censorship and anti-censorship legislators. You can count…
District Court Again Rejects Plaintiffs’ Attempts to Manufacture Common Law Notice-and-Takedown Duties–Bogard v. TikTok
This is a quirky lawsuit designed to subvert Section 230, the First Amendment, and traditional common law. I previously summarized the case: This lawsuit purports to focuses on the allegedly defective operation of the services’ reporting tools, but the plaintiffs’…
OnlyFans Defeats “Chatter Scam” Claim–N.Z. v. Fenix
The court summarizes the plaintiffs’ “chatter scam” contentions: Plaintiffs allege that Fenix Defendants, in cooperation with the Agency Defendants, operate a fraudulent scheme whereby Fenix Defendants charge OnlyFans subscribers to communicate directly with creators, purport to connect subscribers with creators,…