Indiana’s Anti-Online Porn Law “Is Not Close” to Constitutional–Free Speech Coalition v. Rokita
[Note: tomorrow we’ll get the Supreme Court decisions in NetChoice v. Florida and Texas. I’ll be blogging those decisions as fast as I can, so check back here to see if the Internet survived its latest visit to the Supreme…
Heightened Constitutional Scrutiny is Not Required for Content-Based Trademark Registration Laws That Are Viewpoint-Neutral—Vidal v. Elster (Guest Blog Post)
By Lisa Ramsey, Professor of Law, University of San Diego School of Law The Supreme Court held in Elster that Section 2(c) is consistent with the First Amendment, but the Justices disagree on how to evaluate the constitutionality of trademark…
Plaintiffs Lack Standing to Sue Over Government Jawboning When Their Evidence is Based on Vibes–Murthy v. Missouri
In a well-functioning society, governments and the private sector will engage in an ongoing dialogue about public welfare issues. Much of this conversation is healthy and productive, as both the government and the private sector have different expertise and different…
This Case Keeps Wrecking Internet Law–Enigma v. Malwarebytes
You probably know this case well, but I’ll recap it anyway. Malwarebytes makes anti-threat software. Enigma makes competitive offerings. Malwarebytes classified Enigma’s SpyHunter4 and RegHunter2 programs as malicious, a threat, and a potentially unwanted program (PUP). This screenshot shows Malwarebytes’…
‘Scruff’ App Qualifies for Section 230 Immunity–J.R. v. Mancino
“Scruff is a web application that provides a matchmaking platform for men.” I believe competes (at least in part) with Grindr. The plaintiff (the victim’s parent, proceeding pro se) alleges that Scruff app users exchanged CSAM and discussed plans to…
Court Revives Lawsuit Against Facebook Over Scammy Crypto Ads–Forrest v. Meta
Andrew Forrest is an Australian billionaire. “Beginning in 2019, Dr. Forrest learned that ads using his name and likeness to endorse cryptocurrency and other fraudulent investment products were appearing on Facebook.” Forrest contacted Facebook multiple times over the years asking…
Will Biometric Privacy Laws Undermine the Fight Against CSAM?–Martell v. X
This lawsuit involves the widely used PhotoDNA database, a cornerstone of the fight against online child sexual abuse material (CSAM). PhotoDNA renders hash values of identified CSAM items and then enables services to block images with identical hash values. In…
What Should Photo Repositories Do About Blackface Photos?–Thompson v. ShutterStock
Blackface depictions have a long history of racism. In 2020, Facebook banned them as hate speech when the images “caricature” black people. At the same time, the “Black Peter” character is a long-standing (though increasingly controversial) part of Christmas celebrations…
Court Dismisses School Districts’ Lawsuits Over Social Media “Addiction”–In re Social Media Cases
[Warning: this is a 5,600 word blog post]. There are two critically important cases over “social media addiction” pending in California state court and as an MDL in the federal Northern District of California. It is an all-out brawl in…
Courts Are Rejecting Attempts to Weaponize Laws That Protect Consumer Reviews
In 2014, California enacted AB2365, sometimes called the “Yelp law,” codified at Cal. Civil Code 1670.8. The law prohibits businesses from suppressing consumer reviews (on Yelp or elsewhere). Its main substantive terms: (1) A contract or proposed contract for the…