1H 2019 Quick Links, Part 6 (Privacy, E-Commerce, & More)
Privacy * Gullen v. Facebook, Inc., 2019 WL 2486566 (9th Cir. June 14, 2019): No reasonable jury could conclude that Facebook subjected the photo uploaded to the Glenview Patch organizational Facebook page (which is the only photo at issue in this appeal) to…
Amazon May Be Liable for Marketplace Items–Oberdorf v. Amazon
In what could be a seismic ruling, the Third Circuit held that Amazon is a legally responsible seller of defective marketplace items, exposing it to potentially enormous liability. This represents the worst loss yet for Amazon over marketplace sales. However,…
Amazon Might Be Liable for Defective Marketplace Items (But Only When It Tries to Warn Consumers)–Fox v. Amazon
This is one of many lawsuits over defective hoverboards sold by vendors in Amazon’s marketplace. Starting in November 2015, Amazon conducted an investigation into the dangers of hoverboards. On December 11, 2015, Amazon decided the entire category of hoverboards was…
Latest Linkwrap on FOSTA’s Aftermath
Some FOSTA-related links that have accumulated over the past few months: Lucy Kahn, “Against FOSTA/SESTA: One Canary’s Cry From Inside the Coal Mine“ Now that FOSTA/SESTA has been voted into law, I’ve literally seen my advertising platforms disappear before my…
Court Declines to Dismiss Data Breach Claims Against Facebook Based on Access Token Incident–Bass v. Facebook
This is a data breach lawsuit against Facebook. Judge Alsup denies Facebook’s motion to dismiss, although he does find that Facebook’s contract disclaimer (likely) neutralizes numerous contract-based claims. Background: Facebook announced a vulnerability that allowed third parties to obtain “access…
Amazon Isn’t Liable for Defective Marketplace Sale (No Thanks to Section 230)–Erie Insurance v. Amazon
A buyer purchased an LED headlamp in Amazon’s marketplace from a third party merchant (“Dream Light”) and gave it as a gift. The batteries allegedly malfunctioned and caused a fire in the gift-receiver’s house. The home insurer paid $313k+ for…
Section 230 Protects Tor Project from Liability for Tragic Drug Overdose–Seaver v. Estate of Cazes
This case involves the tragic death of a 13 year old boy from ingesting an illegal opioid (U-47700) he bought via the dark web. Allegedly, the boy used a Tor browser to find and purchase the drug. Among other defendants,…
Court Rejects Service of Process Via Amazon Messaging–Noco v. Chang
This is a trademark infringement lawsuit. Plaintiff alleges that defendant improperly uses plaintiff’s brand name to sell infringing or counterfeit products “entirely online through [an] Amazon merchant account.” Defendant used the merchant account named “Co2Crea,” and defendant also applied to…
Airbnb Gets Mixed Results in Challenge to Boston’s Anti-Airbnb Law–Airbnb v. Boston
Boston enacted a law against short-term housing rentals that included these provisions: (1) a $300/violation/day fine for booking illegal short-term rentals (the “penalties” provision), (2) a city-wide ban on booking agents that don’t honor notice-and-takedown or verify vendor licenses (the…
Wisconsin Supreme Court Fixes a Bad Section 230 Opinion—Daniel v. Armslist
In 2018, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals issued a bizarre opinion suggesting that plaintiffs could avoid Section 230 by targeting the service’s design and operation. The authoring judge seemed confident that he had spotted a statutory interpretation flaw that hundreds…