Section 230 Preempts Contract Breach Claims–Morton v. Twitter
This case involves the model Genevieve Morton. She created nude images and sold them at her website. An interloper, SpyIRL, tweeted some of the images. Morton asked Twitter to remove the images and suspend the accounts. Twitter removed the images…
Another Must-Carry Lawsuit Against YouTube Fails–Daniels v Alphabet
[I’ll discuss Justice Thomas’ latest bonkers statement later this week] Daniels, a/k/a “Young Pharoah,” posted videos to YouTube, apparently of the #MAGA genre. YouTube removed some videos, allegedly “shadowbanned” him (again, I raise questions whether that’s the appropriate term here),…
Section 230 (Mostly) Protects Zoom from Liability for Zoombombing
This is a privacy class action against Zoom. The opinion has several points of interest for privacy practitioners. I’m going to focus only on the court’s discussion of Zoom’s liability for Zoombombing, the COVID-era problem where malefactors crash a Zoom…
Consent Via “Clickwrap” Defeats Privacy Claims–Javier v. Assurance
Javier got a life insurance quote from Assurance. It appears this page contained javascript served from a vendor named ActiveProspect (via a service called “TrustedForm”), which tracks each user on Assurance’s site and records the users’ keystrokes. For Assurance, these…
Important Second Circuit Opinion Says Section 230(c)(2)(A) Protects Online Account Terminations–Domen v. Vimeo
Vimeo is a video hosting service. Domen is a “former homosexual.” He posted videos to Vimeo that allegedly violated Vimeo’s policy against “the promotion of sexual orientation change efforts” (SOCE). Vimeo notified Domen of the violation and gave him 24…
Catching Up on the Parler v. AWS Dispute
I blogged Parler’s unsuccessful request to get injunctive relief preventing AWS’s termination of Parler as a customer. Since then, Parler dismissed the federal court lawsuit, filed a state court lawsuit, AWS removed the second lawsuit to federal court, and the…
Social Media Ownership Disputes Part II: Bridal Wear Company Takes Back Control of Instagram Account from Ex-Employee
This is Part II of a review of recent social media ownership disputes. In Part I, I looked at how the Satanic Temple of Washington could not use the CFAA or ACPA to get its Facebook accounts back. Part II…
More Confirmation That RSS Feeds Aren’t Just “Really Simple Stealing”–MidlevelU v. Newstex
The plaintiff made the full text of its blog posts available via RSS. Newstex, an aggregator, subscribed to the RSS feed as part of its “Index” service (which it ultimately discontinued because it wasn’t profitable). The service automatically generated summaries…
New Essay: “The Crisis of Online Contracts (as Told in 10 Memes)”
I’m pleased to share my newest essay, “The Crisis of Online Contracts (as Told in 10 Memes),” which describes the “crisis” of overly formalist contract assent doctrines online in a brief, breezy, and (I hope) fun format. The essay’s key…
TOS Isn’t a Browsewrap or a Clickwrap, But the Judge Upholds It Anyways–Regan v. Pinger
This case doesn’t break much new ground doctrinally, but it’s a characteristically clear opinion from Judge Koh that offers some helpful lessons/reminders. The app in question is called “Sideline,” “a paid service that allows users to create a ‘virtual,’ alternative…