NJ Supreme Court Blesses Lawyers’ Competitive Keyword Ads (With a Baffling Caveat)
We are at the terminal stage of a 250-year old democracy, so what’s on the priority list for regulators of lawyers? In New Jersey, it’s competitive keyword advertising by lawyers. Seriously? When I wrote on this topic in 2016, I…
Addiction Lawsuit Against Character AI Can Proceed–Garcia v. Character Technologies
Online addiction lawsuits are proliferating across the country, a trend that will continue so long as plaintiffs think they can win. This decision largely rejects the defendants’ motion to dismiss, which will induce more plaintiff lawyers to bring more cases….
Section 230 and the First Amendment Curtail An Online Videogame Addiction Lawsuit–Angelilli v. Activision
The court summarizes the plaintiffs’ allegations: D.G. began playing video games when he was six years old and at some point became addicted. Plaintiffs further allege that D.G.’s gaming has resulted in serious harm, including emotional distress, lost friends, and…
Amazon Isn’t Liable for Marketplace Items That Make False Claims–Planet Green v. Amazon
I previously summarized this lawsuit: The plaintiff sells remanufactured printer ink cartridges. The plaintiff claims that Amazon listings falsely claim that other merchants’ cartridges are “remanufactured” or “recycled.” For reasons unclear to me, the plaintiff thought it would be a…
California AG Abandons Key Parts of California’s Mandatory Editorial Transparency Law (AB 587)–X v. Bonta
As you may recall, the Ninth Circuit substantially gutted California’s mandatory editorial transparency law (AB 587). In the aftermath of that ruling, the California AG abandoned its defense of key portions of the law. The settlement says: subdivisions (a)(3), (a)(4)(A),…
Section 230 Doesn’t Apply to “Refer-a-Friend” Text Message–Jensen v. Capital One
Capital One has a “refer-a-friend” program for its customers. Capital One provides its customers with promotional content and a customer-specific referral URL. Customers can edit the content as they see fit, then send it to their friends (or their enemies…
Court Rejects an Attempt to Create a Common-Law Notice-and-Takedown Scheme–Bogard v. TikTok
The plaintiffs allege they notified YouTube and TikTok about videos that allegedly violated the services’ rules, and the services didn’t take action on those notifications despite making various promises to do so. These arguments revisit well-trodden legal ground, but the…
Facebook Compelled to Comply With Washington Political Ad Transparency Law (Catch-Up Post)–State v. Meta
[This opinion from December got stuck in my blogging queue. I’m blogging it now as part of my ongoing efforts to highlight the censorial effects of mandatory editorial transparency laws.] Washington’s Fair Campaign Practices Act “requires Meta to maintain certain…
Court Upholds Google’s Ad TOS Amendment to Add an Arbitration Clause–In re Google Digital Advertising Antitrust Litigation
This is a long-running litigation battle over Google’s advertising practices. In 2021, many individual advertiser claims were consolidated into an MDL in SDNY. Four years and 900+ docket entries later, the SNDY court holds that two plaintiffs’ claims must go…
Courts Are Echoing The Third Circuit’s Repeal of Section 230–Huckabee v. Meta
Mike Huckabee is the former governor of Arkansas and Trump’s choice for ambassador to Israel. He claims that CBD advertisers featured his name, photo, and likeness in Facebook ads. An example of the ads is displayed on the right. As…