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…
YouTube Isn’t a State Actor (DUH)–PragerU v. Google
We live in an upside-down world where “conservatives” are actively seeking to impose must-carry obligations on Internet services by characterizing them as state actors. These arguments are ill-considered as “conservative” doctrine because they would massively expand the scope of government…
Yelp Finally Defeats a False Advertising Lawsuit Over Its Review Functionality–Demetriades v. Yelp
This is a long-running case against Yelp initiated by a restaurant in Mammoth Lakes. I first blogged the case in 2013 when the lower court granted Yelp’s anti-SLAPP motion; I also blogged it in 2014 when the appellate court reversed…
Comments on the DOJ’s Proposed Modifications to the CCPA Regulations
In October 2019, the California Department of Justice (DOJ) published its first draft of regulations under the CCPA. These regulations attracted 1700 pages of comments, including a submission from me. Earlier this month, the DOJ published proposed revisions to those…
Section 230 Protects Zillow for Bogus Submissions of House Details–924 Bel Air v. Zillow
This lawsuit relates to 924 Bel Air Road in Los Angeles, a house known as “Billionaire” (seriously, who chose that brand???). It is one of the most expensive houses in the world. The house is located on an acre+ lot…
Yelp Defeats Businesses’ “Right to Be Forgotten” Claims—Spiegelman v. Yelp
The plaintiffs sued Yelp for using their business information, including their names, photographs and likenesses, without permission. Though the opinion doesn’t expressly state it, it appears these plaintiffs were seeking to get delisted from Yelp’s databases, which is why I’m…
The “EARN IT” Act Is Another Terrible Proposal to “Reform” Section 230
Another “fix Section 230” bill is coming. This one is called the “Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies Act of 2020” or “EARN IT Act of 2020” and it’s being led by Sens. Graham and Blumenthal. The EARN…
Top Moments from #WIPIP2020
Earlier this month, the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara Law hosted over 90 intellectual property scholars from around the globe for WIPIP 2020. At the conference opening session, I outlined our three goals for WIPIP: Help authors improve…