Section 230 Protects Emailing an Article–Monge v. University of Pennsylvania
This case involves an article that allegedly defamed Dr. Janet Monge. Dr. Deborah Thomas, a Penn professor, forwarded the article to an email list run by the American Black Anthropologists. Dr. Monge sued Dr. Thomas (and many other defendants). For…
Section 230 Protects BBB from Liability for Consumer Complaints–Amuze v. BBB
Amuze is an online clothing retailer. Consumers left negative reviews of Amuze at the Better Business Bureau of Greater Maryland (BBB-GM) website. (This page?) Amuze sued BBB and BBB-GM for defamation and IIED. The BBB entities successfully invoked NY’s anti-SLAPP…
YouTube Defeats Trademark Lawsuit–Lops v. YouTube
Leonel Lops claims a trademark in the term “Confidence Empire” for shoes. He alleges that YouTube sold items under the “Confidence Empire” brand and published videos from a dance troupe named Confidence Empire (maybe this one?). He sued YouTube for…
Ripoff Report Gets a Pricey Lesson on Section 230–Selker v. Xcentric
I’ve blogged many Ripoff Report cases over the years, but it’s been a while since my last one (looks like 2018?). In this case, the plaintiff alleges that someone posted a false attack review; he paid Ripoff Report $2,500 to…
Quick Debrief on the Gonzalez v. Google Oral Arguments
I’m going to crank this blog post out before I get swamped with press requests. My takeaways: I did not hear 5 votes in favor of the plaintiffs’ position. Indeed, the justices didn’t really engage with the plaintiffs’ core arguments…
Preparing for the Supreme Court’s Gonzalez v. Google Oral Arguments
Tomorrow, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the Gonzalez v. Google case. I am NOT looking forward to this at all. First, I expect the arguments will go poorly for free speech and the Internet’s status quo. It’ll…
Snapchat Defeats Lawsuit Over User-to-User Harassment–Ziencik v. Snap
[I’m backlogged on several 230 cases. I’ll get to them eventually] This case involves two Snapchat users who repeatedly received threatening messages from other Snapchat users despite the victims’ efforts to block the perpetrators. A victim flagged messages for Snapchat,…
Domain Name Sniping Covered by Section 230–Scott Rigsby v. GoDaddy
It’s refreshing to see a “normal” Section 230 opinion from the Ninth Circuit. They have gotten rarer, and the Gonzalez opinion may make them extinct. Scott Rigsby is the first double-leg amputee to complete an Iron Man Triathlon. He registered…
Section 230 Still Applies to User Reviews–Daniloff v. Google
It’s well-settled law that Section 230 protects review services for tortious user reviews. The Ninth Circuit told us this in 2016 (in Kimzey v. Yelp), but the caselaw was already clear by then. Yet, here we are in 2023, still…
2022 Internet Law Year-in-Review
Three dynamics combined to make 2022 a brutal year for Internet Law. First, the techlash is taking its toll. There is widespread belief that the major incumbents are too big, too rich, and too capricious to avoid pervasive government control….