Section 230 Preempts Unfair Competition Law Claim–Taylor v. Twitter
This is an extraordinary opinion. I can’t recall another opinion where the judge so candidly admits that he made both procedural and substantive mistakes. As troubling as those mistakes were, it actually gives me great confidence to see a judge…
Twitter Defeats Yet Another Lawsuit from a Suspended User–Cox v. Twitter
Cox alleged tweeted: “Islam is a Philosophy of Conquests wrapped in Religious Fantasy & uses Racism, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Mutilation, Torture, Authoritarianism, Homicide, Rape . . . Peaceful Muslims are Marginal Muslims who are Heretics & Hypocrites to Islam. Islam is…
Filtering Software Defeats Another Lawsuit–PC Drivers v. Malwarebytes
I blogged about this case in September. PC Drivers makes software that claims to help speed up users’ computers. Malwarebytes blocked it as a “potentially unwanted program,” or PUP. Litigation ensued. In the prior ruling, Malwarebytes won big, but then…
It’s Really Hard to Win a Motion to Dismiss Based on 512(c)–Myeress v. Buzzfeed
512(c) and 230 diverge in key procedural respects, including the implications of scienter for motions to dismiss. Section 230(c)(1) has no scienter standards, so defendants can win on motions to dismiss despite virtually any scienter allegations. In contrast, Section 512(c)’s…
Top Internet Law Developments of 2018
My schedule tends to get busy around each new year, so my year-end recaps keep coming later and later. I hope it’s better late than never. It’s been a rough year for Internet law. As I tweeted in June: When…
2H 2018 Quick Links, Part 7 (Content Moderation, Section 230, & More)
[ugh, somehow this got lost in my drafts folder. Sharing it now…] * Vice: “The Impossible Job: Inside Facebook’s Struggle to Moderate Two Billion People.” If you read only one article on content moderation, choose this one. Things I learned included: Facebook…
Who Benefited from FOSTA? (Spoiler: Probably No One)
This post rounds up some FOSTA-related links I’ve aggregated over the past few months. There is no good news here. The data points suggest that in FOSTA’s first 9 months, it apparently has failed all of its policy goals while…
Must Universities Shut Down Constitutionally Protected Speech Forums That Also Enable Student Harassment?
This case involves an uproar at University of Mary Washington over Yik Yak, the now-departed social media service that enabled geofenced anonymous comments. Initially, “Within the Yik Yak conversational thread available at UMW, several students expressed — in offensive terms…
Announcing COMO Brussels, the Fourth Edition of the “Content Moderation at Scale” Conference Series, Feb. 5
I’m pleased to announce that there will be a fourth edition of the popular content moderation conference series, this time in Brussels. The event is titled “Content Moderation & Removal at Scale” and will be held on February 5, 2019,…
2H 2018 Quick Links, Part 2 (Trademarks)
* Chanel, Inc. v. Wgaca, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 158077 (SDNY Sept. 14, 2018): Chanel’s amended complaint plausibly alleges that WGACA’s use of the hashtag #WGACACHANEL infringes Chanel’s trademarks. It alleges that WGACA conjoined its acronym with the Chanel trademark…