Researchers’ Challenge to CFAA Moves Forward–Sandvig v. Sessions
This is a lawsuit brought by four professors and a media organization (First Look, publisher of the Intercept). Plaintiffs study real estate, finance, and employment transactions and seek to highlight the discriminatory effects of algorithms. To do so, they create…
Ninth Circuit Reinstates Virtual Platform Gambling Lawsuit Against Big Fish
This is a lawsuit against the parent of Big Fish Games (Churchill Downs*), alleging that the Big Fish Casino offers illegal gambling. The district court dismissed. (Here’s my post on that ruling: “Big Fish’s Virtual Casino Doesn’t Violate Washington’s Gambling Statute.”)…
YouTube Isn’t a Company Town (Duh)–Prager University v. Google
Prager University produces videos designed to convert teenagers into conservatives. It has posted over 250 videos to YouTube. YouTube has placed some of those videos into “restricted mode,” which blocks the videos’ availability to YouTube users who voluntarily operate in…
Adpocalypse LawsuitGoBoom–ZombieGoBoom v. YouTube
In 2017, YouTube reconfigured its ad delivery algorithm to screen out videos that it thought advertisers disfavored. The resulting turmoil was popularly called the “Adpocalypse” because it dried up revenues for many YouTube channels. This includes the operator of the Zombiegoboom…
D.C. Circuit Makes Geoblocking De Facto Mandatory for Copyright Law Purposes–Spanski v. TV Polska (Guest Blog Post)
by guest blogger Marketa Trimble On March 2, 2018, two events occurred that will affect the future of the use of geoblocking: The Official Journal of the European Union published the new EU Anti-Geoblocking Regulation, and coincidentally on the same day,…
The European Union Anti-Geoblocking Regulation Isn’t the End of the Anti-Geoblocking Battle (Guest Blog Post)
by guest blogger Marketa Trimble The EU Anti-Geoblocking Regulation has finally been published. After the Council of the European Union adopted the EU Anti-Geoblocking Regulation on February 27, 2018 (the European Parliament had adopted it earlier in the month), the Regulation…
Video News Aggregator Loses Fair Use Defense–Fox v. TVEyes
TVEyes aggregates video newsclips, makes them searchable, and lets subscribers watch responsive clips. One use case is for companies’ communications departments. They can set up searches for their brands in TVEyes’ database and monitor what’s being said about them. To…
In-Line Linking May Be Copyright Infringement–Goldman v. Breitbart News
Ugh, this decision is bad. How bad is it? It makes me sympathetic to Breitbart, and I didn’t even know that was possible. You may want a box of tissues nearby before reading this. The TL;DR: for over a decade, in-line linking has been treated…
Plaintiff’s Location-Based Privacy Claim Against BART Reporting App Fails
In Moreno v. S.F. Bay Area Rapid Transit District, the plaintiff sued BART and Elerts Corporation for allegedly violating several California privacy statutes and infringing plaintiff’s common law and constitutional privacy rights. The court rejects the claims. BART, in cooperation…
Search Engines Aren’t Liable for Indexing ‘Scam’ Locksmith Listings–Baldino’s Lock v. Google
[It’s impossible to blog about Section 230 without reminding you that it remains highly imperiled.] The plaintiff in this case, Baldino’s Lock & Key, brought a very similar lawsuit in 2014. It alleged that Google indexed scam locksmiths and allowed them…