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…
California’s Age-Appropriate Design Code (AADC) Is Completely Unconstitutional (Multiple Ways)–NetChoice v. Bonta
I don’t normally start my blog posts with a meme, but this one tells you everything you need to know: * * * This blog post concerns the California Age-Appropriate…
Ethan Ackerman Reflects on the Blogiversary (Part 7 of 10)
…of the work of, or maybe even reach out and contact, Eric Goldman at Marquette, who “is doing that, and doing it well.” I did follow Eric’s work at Marquette…
Jess Miers Reflects on the Blogiversary (Part 6 of 10)
…Early in my career, I quickly became recognized as an expert on Section 230 and a knowledgeable enthusiast of the blog itself. Colleagues often sought my insights, asking, “Has Eric…
Section 230 Protects Facebook’s Decision to Cut Off Sketchy App’s API Access–Six4Three v. Facebook
Six4Three developed an app called “Pikinis” (a/k/a “Pikini”), which enabled its users to search Facebook for photos of women in bikinis. 🙄 The app drew upon Facebook’s Graph API. Facebook…
Fourth Circuit Upholds TOS Formation Despite a Bad Call-to-Action, But Strikes Down Unilateral Amendment Clauses
Two noteworthy rulings this week from the Fourth Circuit regarding TOS formation issues. Dhruva v. CuriosityStream, Inc., No. 24-1080 (4th Cir. March 10, 2025) Curiosity Stream is a paywalled site…
Verizon and Its Cloud Vendor Must Face Lawsuit for Reporting “CSAM” That Wasn’t – Lawshe v. Verizon (Guest Blog Post)
…what good are they, and what good is the law letting NCMEC share them with providers? This case illustrates Eric’s observation that “determining if a content item is CSAM isn’t…
Another Lawsuit Over Online Content Restrictions Fails–Qian v. YouTube
Qian uploaded content to YouTube, which YouTube restricted in various ways. Qian sued YouTube for breaching its TOS. The district court granted summary judgment to YouTube. The Second Circuit affirms….
Section 230 Still Applies to Email Forwarding–Motekaitis v. USI
Motekaitis and Kneass worked for USI. There were rumors about the circumstances of their departure. Marsh & McLennan (MMA) was contemplating hiring Motekaitis, but then an email from a USI…
Serial Copyright Plaintiff Lacks Standing to Enforce Third-Party Copyrights–Viral DRM v 7News
This case involves Viral DRM, which syndicates third-party videos of extreme weather events. It claims that 7News Australia downloaded videos from YouTube, stripped out the copyright management information (CMI), and…