Section 230’s Application to Account Terminations, CSAM, and More
The Section 230 cases keep coming faster than I can blog them (the first 3 hit my alerts in a single day). Weiss v. Google LLC, 2026 WL 733788 (Cal. App. Ct. March 16, 2026) Weiss’ business started running financial…
Photobucket’s Attempted TOS Amendment Mostly Fails–Pierce v. Photobucket
Photobucket is a venerable photo hosting service whose best days are far behind it. In 2017, its management imploded the service by imposing above-market hosting fees. Most users stopped using Photobucket, but Photobucket kept their photos. In 2024, Photobucket emailed…
Ninth Circuit Allows TOS Amendment by Email–Ireland-Gordy v. Tile
[This is a non-precedential opinion, and the court unhelpfully cuts many factual and doctrinal corners.] The plaintiffs claim that bad actors misused Tile’s tracking devices to stalk them. The plaintiffs (as a class action) sued Tile for how it designed…
If You Don’t Keep Good Records, Don’t Be Surprised if Your TOS Formation Fails in Court–White v. PayPal
“Plaintiffs allege that Honey “misrepresents its ability to find the ‘best discount codes’ for consumers” and instead “prioritizes coupon codes from Honey’s partner merchants,” giving users “inferior discounts, or no discounts at all, while Honey and its merchant partners profit.””…
Pre-Publication Content Moderation Can Disqualify Services from the DMCA 512(c) Safe Harbor–McGucken v. ShutterStock
The Second Circuit’s 512 jurisprudence is an unpredictable roller coaster. I can think of at least two other times when the Second Circuit has reversed a clean lower court ruling to unleash further plaintiff-favorable doctrinal chaos (the Viacom v. YouTube…
The Sixth Circuit Wades Into Online TOS Formation (and Leaves Me More Confused Than Ever)–Dahdah v. LowerMyBills
TL;DR: The court provides this overview: LowerMyBills.com refers internet users who are interested in refinancing their home mortgages to affiliated lending partners, including Rocket Mortgage. The website tells users that they will agree to its hyperlinked “Terms of Use”—including a…
Relitigating hiQ Labs and Scraping Through the Lens of DMCA 1201 Anti-Circumvention (Guest Blog Post)
by guest blogger Kieran McCarthy A series of prominent web-scraping lawsuits are revisiting the fundamentals of public data access. And in so doing, with a slight reframing of a relatively settled legal issue, major platforms are challenging the presumption that…
AT&T Blocks T-Mobile’s Data Portability Efforts (Guest Blog Post)
By guest blogger Kieran McCarthy If you have ever wondered why big incumbents keep running to the Northern District of Texas the moment someone builds a tool that makes switching easier, comparing prices easier, or generally makes the internet work…
2025 Internet Law Year-in-Review
2025 is the Trump 2.0 era, so you won’t find much upbeat news in this Internet Law year-in-review. 10. Are Websites Legally Equivalent to Exploding Coke Bottles? Traditionally, tort law distinguishes between tangible items (chattels) and intangible services. Several doctrines…
Too Many Courts Are Letting States Take Wrecking Balls to the Internet (Roundup)
‘Tis the season for Internet censorship. 🎄 More accurately, Internet censorship is now a four-season sport in state legislatures. There is not a stereotypical red state/blue state divide. Instead, the “divide” is between pro-censorship and anti-censorship legislators. You can count…