YouTuber Loses Lawsuit Over Channel Termination–Mishiyev v. Alphabet
Mishiyev, a/k/a “DJ Short-e,” is a YouTuber who claims he had 100M+ views and 250k subscribers. His videos started getting copyright complaints in 2016. He counternoticed those, but he claims he nevertheless saw traffic dropoffs and started making demands of…
Another Troubling Courtroom Loss for Online Marketplaces–Massachusetts Port Authority v. Turo
Turo is a peer-to-peer marketplace for car rentals. “Colloquially put, Turo is the ‘Airbnb’ of private motor vehicles.” Though Turo doesn’t dictate where the buyer and seller exchange the car, Turo facilitates matches at airports, either by the seller leaving…
Recap of the USDOJ’s Section 230 Roundtable
[Earlier today, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the EARN IT Act, so I thought it would be a good time to catch up on this backlogged post on related topics.] In February, I attended two events organized…
The EARN IT Act Partially Repeals Section 230, But It Won’t Help Children
The EARN IT Act, S. 3398, was introduced last week. I believe this is the introduced version. I previously blogged a pre-introduction version of the EARN IT Act. The bill underwent substantial changes from the February draft–a few good, mostly…
46 Academics Encourage Congress To Consider Section 230’s Benefits
On behalf of ourselves and 44 other academics, Prof. David Levine (Elon) and I sent a letter to Congress regarding the benefits of Section 230. Congress is already focusing plenty of attention on Section 230’s costs, but Section 230’s benefits…
Radio Hosts Aren’t Liable for Online Attacks Against Beleaguered Referee–Higgins v. Kentucky Sports Radio
The case relates to the University of Kentucky men’s basketball team’s 2017 season-ending loss at the hands of University of North Carolina–a loss that many fans blamed on referee John Higgins’ officiating. UK fans unleashed their fury against Higgins’ day…
First Voters Reject Tulsi Gabbard, Then a Judge Does–Gabbard v. Google
Super Tuesday wasn’t so super for Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard. First, she polled less than 1%–territory usually occupied by withdrawn or fringe candidates. Though, remarkably, she did earn two delegates. Mind blown. Second, the same day, a court completely…
Santa Clara Law’s Privacy Law Program Receives Substantial Gifts…AND COME WORK WITH ME!
Today, Santa Clara Law announced that we’ve received three gifts totaling $750k that we will use to enhance our already highly successful privacy law program. We’re honored by the generosity of our donors: Larry Sonsini; Paul Gentzkow and his wife Barbara Gentzkow; and Kapil Nanda and…
Snapchat’s Speed Filter Protected by Section 230–Lemmon v. Snap
This case involves a fatal crash after the car occupants used Snapchat’s speed filter to record going 123 mph. Snapchat defended the subsequent personal injury lawsuit on Section 230 grounds. The court previously dismissed the case with leave to amend….
Defendants Keep Getting Arbitration Despite the Anarchy in Online Contract Formation Doctrine
Online contract formation law has gotten strange. The proliferation of “wrap” variations has tied up judges in knots. Despite the increasingly baroque and incoherent legal doctrines, the bottom line has largely remained the same: most online contracts are properly formed…