Shopkick Unable to Shake Text Spam Complaint — Huricks v. Shopkick
Shopkick is a rewards-based app that shoppers use on their phone while they are in-store shopping. I’m not precisely sure how it works (you get points for trying on items or walking in certain parts of the store?) but it…
Lawsuit Against Adware Vendor Fails–Halperin v. Text Enhance
Text Enhance, a program developed by Affluent Ads, scans web page text for certain keywords. When the user mouses over any of those keywords, the adware serves up a pop-up ad on the user’s computer. Halperin ended up with Text…
Washington State Supreme Court Hears an Interesting Privacy Case: Dillon v. Seattle Deposition Reporters
This is a super interesting case that’s working its way through the courts in Washington. In a nutshell, T-Mobile was a defendant in a breach of contract lawsuit brought by NetLogix in the Western District of Washington. T-Mobile was represented…
NLRB Invalidates Employer’s Blogging Policy And Reverses Firing Based On Facebook Posts
This is another NLRB Facebook firing case. The employer is a bar and restaurant whose employees were chatting on Facebook about owing amounts in taxes allegedly as a result of paperwork mishaps on the employer’s part. LaFrance, a former employee…
9th Circuit Creates Problematic “Failure To Warn” Exception to Section 230 Immunity–Doe 14 v. Internet Brands
Doe sued Internet Brands, Inc., the owner of Model Mayhem, alleging that two unrelated individuals drugged and assaulted her (and recorded her for a pornographic video). It’s unclear precisely how the assailants used Model Mayhem, but the court merely says…
Employer Isn’t Liable When Former Employee Linked His Apple Accounts To Its Devices–Sunbelt v. Victor
Victor worked at Sunbelt as a sales rep but left to join a competitor. His former employer is suing him for trade secret misappropriation. Victor asserted privacy-based counterclaims. Sunbelt assigned him an iPhone and an iPad. He created an Apple…
When Is It Appropriate To Monitor An Ex-Spouse’s Email Account? Never
Zaratzian and Abadir were married but divorced after a little over a decade. While the couple was married, Abadir opened a Cablevision account for internet and email service. He configured an account for Zaratzian and set the password. He also…
Court Denies AFP/Getty Bid to Set Aside Morel Copyright Verdict
The dust is settling on AFP v. Morel, and the wreckage that emerges isn’t pretty. Following trial, a jury awarded Morel $1,503,889.77 in actual and statutory damages for infringement. The jury also found that defendants violated Morel’s rights under the…
Lawsuit Against Google Over In-App Purchases By Minors Squeaks Past Motion to Dismiss
This is a lawsuit against Google over in-app purchases made by minor children, reminiscent of a similar lawsuit against Apple. Plaintiff on behalf of a putative class alleged that, among other things, Google allowed someone to make a purchase for…
Judge Koh Dismisses the Bulk of the Yahoo Email Scanning Class Action
Plaintiffs are non-Yahoo email users who sent messages to Yahoo users. They allege that Yahoo’s email scans violate federal and state wiretapping laws and invade their privacy. ECPA: This claim alleges that Yahoo “intercepts” the emails. ECPA is subject to…