YouTube Still Isn’t a State Actor–Albertson v. Google
This year, the Supreme Court is expected to issue an opinion on jawboning and its implications for when Internet services may become state actors because of such government pressure. Until…
Online Marketplace Defeats Lawsuit Over Murder–Roland v. Letgo
…shows the opposite conclusion. Letgo prompted users in red font—and at the top of his profile—to ask “James Worthy” to verify his profile. [Eric’s note: the image above shows this.]…
Think You Understand Online Trespass to Chattels Law? Think Again–In re Meta Healthcare Pixels
…user’s device. The plaintiffs responded with generic allegations: “(i) Meta occupied storage space on their devices without authorization; (ii) Meta’s acts caused their devices to work slower; (iii) Meta’s acts…
Section 230 Protects Zillow for Publishing Property Information–Choudhuri v. Specialized Loan
This lawsuit relates to a property foreclosure contested by the then-property owner, Choudhuri, who sued pro se. “Choudhuri appears to allege that Zillow ‘illegally’ published information regarding the property at…
Atari’s Lawsuit Against a Print-on-Demand Service Fizzles Out–Atari v. Printify
This is an IP enforcement action against a print-on-demand service called Printify. Printify facilitates interactions between merchants who create new items to sell (using storefronts like Etsy, Shopify, or eBay)…
Plaintiffs Tried to Plead Around Section 230. It Didn’t Work–Ziencik v. Snap
I previously summarized this case: This case involves two Snapchat users who repeatedly received threatening messages from other Snapchat users despite the victims’ efforts to block the perpetrators. A victim…
2023 Quick Links: Leftovers
Consumer Reviews * Route App, Inc. v. Heuberger, 2023 WL 5334192 (D. Utah Aug. 18, 2023): Heuberger argues that Route’s Breach of Contract claim fails because the non-disparagement provision in…
Game On! Bright Data Scores Major Victory in Web-Scraping Dispute with Meta (Guest Blog Post)
…interesting (again). * * * Eric’s comments: This ruling is definitely going to be appealed, so I’m not ready yet to declare this ruling as the new trespass-to-chattels baseline. I…
Courts Still Have No Clue How to Determine Who Owns Social Media Accounts–JLM v. Gutman
This is the latest entry in a long-running legal battle between Hayley Paige Gutman, a bridalwear designer, and JLM Couture, her one-time employer. Gutman created a Pinterest account in 2011…
Two More Cases Compel Arbitration for Dubious Online Contracts (Guest Blog Post)
by guest blogger Kieran McCarthy The intersection of the Federal Arbitration Act and the law of online contracts has become utterly corrosive to our legal system. Many people think this…