Section 230 Preempts FOSTA Claim–Doe v. WebGroup Czech Republic
This is a FOSTA case. It reached the 9th Circuit on personal jurisdiction grounds. The 9th Circuit held that some foreign defendants were subject to jurisdiction. On remand, the court dismisses the remaining defendants primarily due to Section 230, with…
Everything You Wanted to Know About the Moody v. NetChoice Supreme Court Opinion
Normally, when a major Internet Law development occurs, I write two posts. First, I write up a quick hit for the media. See my short statement on the Moody v. NetChoice. decision. I then follow up with a comprehensive blog…
Competitor Isn’t Responsible for Google Knowledge Panel’s Contents–International Star Registry v. RGIFTS
This lawsuit involves competitors in the “star registry” niche 🙄. The incumbent is the International Star Registry of Illinois. The challenger is RGIFTS. The incumbent doesn’t like the competition and is clinging to its very descriptive trademarks to try to…
Announcing the Seventh Edition of Advertising & Marketing Law Casebook by Tushnet & Goldman
Prof. Rebecca Tushnet and I are pleased to announce the seventh edition of our casebook, Advertising & Marketing Law: Cases & Materials. It is available for purchase in the following formats: * DRM-free PDF file. Price: $12 * Kindle. Price: $9.99 * Print-on-demand…
Deleting an Instagram Post Was Evidence-Tampering–Webb v. U.S.
This is an assault case. Soon after the assault, the defendant made a public Instagram post showing a bloody fist and the caption “Got slim blood all on me … #NoSuckaShit.” A law enforcement officer saw the post and screenshotted…
Section 230 Preempts Two More Harassment Lawsuits
Recapping a couple of doomed-from-inception lawsuits. Benedict v. Google LLC, 2024 WL 3427161 (D. Ariz. July 16, 2024) Lance Benedict is a musician. Someone attacked him on the heavy metal website “All That Shreds” (apparently gone now), posting allegedly doctored…
Eggplant Emoji 🍆 Means What You Think It Means–State v. Farley
A jury convicted Farley of sexual abuse of a minor. On appeal, the court addresses this online conversation between Farley and the victim: Farley: “10:30 good boy 11 bad boy” Victim: “Me bad boy” Farley: “11 tomorrow night bud” Victim:…
SAD Scheme Leads to Another Massively Disproportionate Asset Freeze–Powell v. Schedule A
[Reminder: I don’t blog all of the SAD Scheme cases I see, and the ones I blog are more exemplars of the general principles than standout or unique cases.] Kate Louise Powell is a Scotland-based artist. (I wonder how she…
It’s Hard to Bind Former Subscribers to TOS Amendments–Brooks v. WarnerMedia
This is a VPPA case over Meta Pixels. 🙄🙄🙄 Everyone agrees this lawsuit will be going to arbitration per the HBO Max TOS. However, in 2022, HBO Max swapped arbitration providers from AAA to NAM. The opinion doesn’t clearly explain…
What Happened to Gonzalez v. Google After the SCOTUS Decision?
In the mid-2010s, plaintiffs filed about 20 lawsuits filed around the country seeking to hold social media services liable for allegedly facilitating terrorist attacks. Two of those cases, Gonzalez v. Google and Taamneh v. Twitter, produced Supreme Court rulings last…