Online Dating Services Must Give California Users a “Cooling Off” Period–Howell v. Grindr
California has a statute applicable to dating contracts that gives consumers the right to cancel within 3 days of signing up. Companies must advise clients of this and provide a cancellation mechanism and a full refund. Grindr, an online dating…
Court Enforces Arbitration Clause in Amazon’s Terms of Service–Fagerstrom v. Amazon
This lawsuit alleges that Amazon overstated the extent of discounts it offered customers (in stating the extent of the discount customer achieved when shopping at Amazon versus competing retailers). Amazon moved to compel arbitration, and the court grants the motion….
Google Play Defeats Lawsuit Over Unauthorized Bank Charges–Harvey v. Google
In March 2013, Susan Harvey bought a game via Google Play, which required her to electronically link her bank account. She alleges that hundreds of unauthorized charges hit her bank account, totaling thousands of dollars. Google allegedly offered to make…
Senate Passes Consumer Review Freedom Act
As you recall, the Consumer Review Freedom Act would prevent businesses from restricting consumers’ reviews of their businesses. This week, the Senate approved the bill by unanimous consent. On the floor, the sponsors introduced a new version of the bill….
Can YouTube ‘Remove And Relocate’ User Videos Capriciously?–Darnaa v. Google (Forbes Cross-Post)
Most of us uploading YouTube videos aren’t deeply invested in their continued availability. If YouTube removed our videos or relocated them to a different URL, we might be puzzled why but otherwise would probably shrug our shoulders. However, YouTube is…
How Congress Can Protect Online Consumer Reviews (An Assessment of the Consumer Review Freedom Act) (Forbes Cross-Post)
[Note: last Wednesday, I testified on the Consumer Review Freedom Act before the Senate Commerce Committee. My testimony. My complete written submission.] For many Americans, the First Amendment is the alpha and omega of free speech protection. However, the First…
Disney Not Liable For Disclosing Device IDs And Viewing Habits
This is another VPPA case grappling with the question of how the statute defines “personally identifiable information.” A recent key VPPA ruling addressed the issue of whether someone who downloads an app is a “subscriber” (answer: no), but the PII…
Facebook Beats Privacy Lawsuit Alleging Persistent Tracking
This is a lawsuit against Facebook alleging that it tracked people visiting websites throughout the web even if they were not logged on to Facebook. As the court describes the allegations, Facebook uses a persistent cookie that tracks a person’s…
Amazon AppStore and Google Play Defeat Lawsuit Over Infringing App Name–Free Kick Master v. Apple (Forbes Cross-Post)
Plaintiffs often target app stores for issues with third party apps. A recent court ruling in favor of Amazon’s AppStore and Google Play highlights the legal risks faced by app stores, as well as the benefits to consumers and society…
Commenting on Viral Video Is Fair Use–Equals Three v. Jukin Media
This is a copyright lawsuit over viral videos. Jukin Video apparently finds and acquires the rights to viral videos. It reached 1 million subscribers on YouTube and has over 17,000 videos available for licensing. Equals Three produces short humor programs…