2021 Section 230 Year-in-Review
December 2020 ended with Section 230’s existence in jeopardy. Shortly before he insurrected a violent takeover of the U.S. Capitol, lame-duck President Trump demanded Section 230’s repeal. Trump even vetoed raises for our soldiers because Congress didn’t repeal Section 230…
Another Confused Entry in the Social Media Account Ownership Jurisprudence–JLM v. Gutman
This is a lawsuit between a wedding gown company, JLM, and Hayley Paige Gutman, a designer/influencer who worked for JLM. For background, check out my post on the district court’s ruling here: “Social Media Ownership Disputes Part II: Bridal Wear…
Uber’s TOS Fails in Court (Again)–Sarchi v. Uber
The plaintiff sued because she’s blind and an Uber driver refused to pick her up with her guide dog. Uber invoked the arbitration clause in its TOS. The Maine Supreme Court says that the TOS wasn’t properly formed. This is…
2021 Internet Law Year-in-Review
This is my annual review of the Internet Law highlights of the prior year. I’ve posted a 2021 year-in-review post for emoji law, and I also posted a separate Section 230 year-in-review. NFTs. Much of the NFT activity right now…
DC Circuit Confirms That Congressional Jawboning Isn’t Actionable–AAPS v. Schiff
This is one of many cases, often related to #MAGA or anti-vax, seeking legal recourse for Congressional jawboning of Internet services. More typically, the plaintiff claims Internet services become state actors due to the jawboning directed at them. In contrast,…
Court Quashes 512(h) Subpoena Submitted to YouTube–Watch Tower v. Kevin McFree
A “lapsed” Jehovah’s Witnesses member, using the alias “Kevin McFree,” posted YouTube videos using stop-animation of Lego figurines to criticize the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The IP arm of the Jehovah’s Witnesses (the “Watch Tower”) claimed that one such video, the “Dubtown…
New Article: “The Constitutionality of Mandating Editorial Transparency”
I’ve posted a draft of my latest article, “The Constitutionality of Mandating Editorial Transparency,” forthcoming in the Hastings Law Journal later this year. As always, I hope you will check it out. Congress, state legislatures, and federal and state enforcement…
Catching Up on Recent FOSTA Developments (None of Them Good)
The number #1 question I get whenever I discuss FOSTA with folks who aren’t familiar with it: did Congress know what it was doing? Well, the answer is complicated. Many things have gone wrong with FOSTA, and those outcomes were…
The First Amendment Protects Twitter’s Fact-Checking and Account Suspension Decisions–O’Handley v. Padilla
The plaintiff is Rogan O’Handley, a California lawyer with elite credentials (UChicago Law, practice experience as a corporate finance and entertainment attorney) who nevertheless jumped onto the anti-“elites” Trump train 🙄 and embraced Trump’s Big Lie that the 2020 election…
Section 230 Preempts Claims Against Omegle–M.H. v. Omegle
Omegle enables real-time video and text chats with users assigned at random. The case involves an 11 year old girl who was a first-time Omegle user. The complaint alleges that a malefactor John Doe manipulated her into disrobing so he…