A vacationer found a listing of interest on VRBO (owned by HomeAway). After back-and-forth negotiations with the lister, he sent $46k for a week’s rental. The property proved to be fictional, so the vacationer got fleeced. VRBO investigated and, oddly,…
Censorship Spotlight on China * NY Times: China’s Internet Censors Play a Tougher Game of Cat and Mouse * Reuters: China’s Weibo looks to reward citizen censors with iPhones, tablets * NY Times: 68 Things You Cannot Say on China’s…
This morning, President Trump signed H.R. 1865, the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017 (FOSTA), into law. The bill signing was anticipated, but that doesn’t make the outcome any less terrible. Today, Washington DC regulators…
Section 230 * Backpage.com, LLC, V. Hawley, 2017 WL 5726868 (E.D. Mo Nov. 28, 2017): Backpage cites Doe No. 1 for the proposition that, as an interactive computer service provider, its “choices about what content can appear on the website…
Innovation * NY Times: Russia Wants Innovation, but It’s Arresting Its Innovators * Contigiani et al, Trade Secrets and Innovation: Evidence from the ‘Inevitable Disclosure’ Doctrine. The abstract: Does heightened employer-friendly trade secrecy protection help or hinder innovation? By examining…
You probably remember this case. Copyright owners sued the video hosting site Vimeo for third party uploaded videos that allegedly infringed their copyrights. Given this was the paradigmatic situation the DMCA safe harbor was designed to address, you’d think this…
[Just a reminder that Section 230’s evisceration will happen upon Pres. Trump’s signature] Victims of the 2016 Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, aided by the indefatigable 1-800-LAWFIRM and Excolo Law, sued social media providers. They alleged that the shooter was inspired…
This is a First Amendment lawsuit brought by Facebook and Twitter users against the Governor of Kentucky. Plaintiffs allege that the Governor (Bevin) violated their First Amendment rights by blocking them on Facebook and Twitter. Bevin wants to hear from…
During Congress’ SESTA/FOSTA deliberations, opponents repeatedly promised that the Doe v. Backpage litigation in Massachusetts would imminently provide key insights into Section 230’s purported limitations. Indeed, a week after the Senate passed the Worst of Both Worlds FOSTA, the court…
This is a lawsuit brought by four professors and a media organization (First Look, publisher of the Intercept). Plaintiffs study real estate, finance, and employment transactions and seek to highlight the discriminatory effects of algorithms. To do so, they create…