Politician Can Block Constituents at Twitter–If It’s a “Campaign” Account–Campbell v. Reisch
This is another case challenging an elected official’s blocking of a constituent’s Twitter account on First Amendment grounds. It’s a 2-1 Eighth Circuit ruling that appears to distance itself from the approach of the Second and Fourth Circuits. As Eric…
Court Rejects Parler’s Demand That Amazon Host Its Services
Parler, a self-described “conservative microblogging alternative and [competitor] to Twitter,” sued Amazon Web Services for suspending its service. Parler claimed (1) antitrust violations, (2) breach of contract, and (3) tortious interference. Parler sought a temporary restraining order (which the court…
Another Court Says Embedding Instagram Photos May Be Fair Use–Boesen v. United Sports
This is another Instagram embed case. For my most recent post on that topic, see this post. Plaintiff Boesen is a professional photographer. He captured an image of professional tennis player Caroline Wozniacki near the beginning of her career. Ms….
Court Sends Wyze Labs Privacy Suit to Arbitration
Wyze provides home security monitoring and cameras. (They have a range of “smart home” products.) Plaintiffs sued Wyze on behalf of a putative class alleging that Wyze failed to safeguard their personal information. Wyze moved to compel arbitration. The court…
We’re Still Unsure If Instagram Grants Users a Sublicense to Embed Photos
I blogged earlier this summer about McGucken v. Newsweek, a case that involved a media defendant who was sued by a photographer because it embedded (and displayed) photos in an online article. Newsweek asked the court to reconsider its ruling…
One Minute Spent Reviewing a Junk Fax Received via Email is Not Injury for Article III Purposes
This is a junk fax case. Plaintiff (Daisy), a corporation, used Vonage to receive faxes. It received a junk fax, but rather than receiving it on its fax machine, Daisy received the fax via email, as a .pdf. Daisy alleged…
Infringing Polish Website Isn’t Subject to Personal Jurisdiction in the United States–AMA v. Wanat
AMA Multimedia sued Marcin Wanat, Maciej Madon, and MW Media, a Poland-based partnership. AMA was only able to serve Wanat, so he’s the only defendant in the lawsuit. He moved to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction in the United…
Repeated Amazon Purchases Sufficient to Impute Notice of Arbitration Clause
We blogged Nicosia v. Amazon in 2015 and 2016. (See “The “Browsewrap”/”Clickwrap” Distinction Is Falling Apart”; “Anarchy Has Ensued In Courts’ Handling of Online Contract Formation (Round Up Post).”) A recent Second Circuit ruling in favor of Amazon, while unpublished,…
Is It OK to Embed Instagram Photos? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
We recently covered Sinclair v. Ziff Davis, addressing whether Instagram’s terms of service authorize a third party to publish photos posted to Instagram by embedding those photos online. The court in that case initially said yes. However, the court’s reconsideration…
Court Sends Google Assistant Privacy Lawsuit Back for a Redo
This is a putative class action against Google alleging that Google Assistant actively listened (mistakenly) based on a misperceived voice command. The lawsuit complains about the fact that Google used the recordings from these “false accepts”. The court grants Google’s…