Lawyer’s Agreement to Online Terms if Investigating a Claim May Bind a Client
Knapke sued PeopleConnect for alleged violations of her publicity rights under Ohio law. PeopleConnect moved to compel arbitration on the basis that Knapke’s counsel Reilly assented to the terms of service in the course of his pre-filing investigative efforts. The…
Quick Links from the Past Year, Part 8 (Editorial Transparency)
* NY Assembly Bill A7865A. A dangerous new mandatory editorial transparency law to supplement Florida and Texas. Definition of “Hateful conduct” means “the use of a social media network to vilify, humiliate, or incite violence against a group or a…
The Ninth Circuit Reaffirms the Discovery Rule for the Copyright Act’s Statute of Limitations — Starz v. MGM (Guest Blog Post)
By Guest Blogger Tyler Ochoa Eleven days ago, the Ninth Circuit reaffirmed that: (1) the discovery rule of accrual applies to the Copyright Act’s three-year statute of limitations; and (2) when the discovery rule applies, the copyright owner is not…
Another Account Suspension Case Yeeted–Rangel v. Dorsey
Rangel has the Twitter alias “religiouserpico”: Twitter suspended him after he tweeted “HANG THEM ALL” (did God approve that???). He sued pro se. The court yeets his lawsuit. Claim Against Jack Dorsey. “Out of millions of Twitter accounts, it is…
Dropbox’s TOS Amendment Fails (And If This Opinion Stands, Yours Will Too)–Sifuentes v. Dropbox
This is a troubling ruling on TOS amendments. 🚨🚨🚨 It apparently requires clickthroughs to form TOS amendments, regardless of what the TOS specifies as the amendment process. Given how rarely TOS amendments use clickthroughs, this opinion could anticipate the widespread…
Quick Links from the Past Year, Part 7 (Section 230)
* FTC v. Match Group LLC, 2022 WL 877107 (N.D. Tex. March 24, 2022). A rare and surprisingly bad loss for the FTC on Section 230. The FTC alleged that: from 2013 to mid-2018, nonsubscribers were unaware that “as many…
Will California Eliminate Anonymous Web Browsing? (Comments on CA AB 2273, The Age-Appropriate Design Code Act)
I’m continuing my coverage of dangerous Internet bills in the California legislature. This job is especially challenging during an election year, when legislators rally behind the “protect the kids” mantra to pursue bills that are likely to hurt, or at…
Can Facebook Stop Data Snarfers?–Meta v. BrandTotal
I refer to “data snarfers” as businesses that aggregate (via scraping or APIs) lots of sensitive online personal information to offer analytics, business/competitive intelligence, and similar services. Academic researchers can also fit this paradigm. Many of these businesses legitimately fill…
A Pop Quiz on TOS Formation–Wilson v. Triller
Triller is a TikTok rival. Its account formation process includes the screenshot on the left. On the right is the screenshot from Meyer v. Uber, which the Second Circuit held created an enforceable TOS. Is the Triller screen sufficiently similar…
If TOS Formation Fails, Bad Legal Outcomes Are Likely to Follow–Doe v. Roblox
This case involves Roblox, a virtual world. Allegedly, a majority of Roblox users are under 13. Roblox has an in-game currency, Robux. Users can manufacture virtual items in-game, and other users can buy those items using Robux, with Roblox taking…