by Kieran McCarthy When the Supreme Court decided Van Buren v. United States last summer, many Computer Fraud and Abuse Act experts felt that the decision avoided the worst interpretations of the CFAA, while consciously leaving most of its practical…
A tragic story: a 10-year old girl saw the Blackout Challenge on TikTok, tried it herself, and died. The mom sued TikTok for design defect and failure to warn claims under strict products liability and negligence theories. The mom claimed…
This is the first federal appellate ruling applying FOSTA. (The DC Circuit evaluated a facial constitutional challenge to FOSTA in Woodhull). It’s an important defense win. If this ruling stands and persuades other appellate courts, it has significant implications for…
The battle over online free speech has drifted away from direct Section 230 reform and towards a variety of other regulatory ideas that would instead undermine Section 230’s core principles. One such ancillary battleground involves the regulatory push for “editorial…
This opinion came out in June, but I just learned about it. In this opinion, a federal judge incorporated a meme into the opinion’s narrative to emphasize a rhetorical point (pun intended): [Later, the court adds: “one final point, this…
Emoji Co. GmbH has registered trademarks in the dictionary word “Emoji.” They mostly are a licensing organization, and their registrations are in a wide range of classes: “from articles of clothing and snacks to ‘orthopaedic foot cushions’ and ‘[p]atient safety…
This is a standard kitchen-sink pro se lawsuit against Facebook, but it touches a couple of key blog themes that makes it worth covering. Americans With Disabilities Act Lloyd claims that the Facebook website violates the ADA Title III. Citing…
This is another empirical study into FOSTA’s effects. At the Stanford Trust & Safety conference, I heard a presentation of this paper: Helen Shuxuan Zeng, Brett Danaher, & Michael D. Smith, Internet Governance Through Site Shutdowns: The Impact of Shutting…
This is a pandemic case. The buyer ordered $2.1M of personal protective equipment (PPE) from the seller in April 2020 and wired the money. The seller subsequently didn’t deliver, and the buyer cancelled the order. That left the issue of…
Copart runs an auto auction website that includes “repairable” cars, i.e., junkers. The plaintiff sued for three alleged misrepresentations, including: On vehicle pages, Copart displays an Estimated Retail Value for the vehicle. Plaintiff contends that this number is false and…