Ninth Circuit Does More Ninth Circuit Things in its Latest Section 230 Ruling--Diep v. Apple

Ninth Circuit Does More Ninth Circuit Things in its Latest Section 230 Ruling–Diep v. Apple

Yet another cryptocurrency fraud case. 🙄 I previously described this case: This lawsuit relates to the “Toast Plus” app that was available in Apple’s app store. The plaintiffs claim it was a spoof app designed to steal cryptocurrency worth $5k…

Court Says Twitter Misused Litigation to Punish Defendants for Their Speech--X v. CCDH

Court Says Twitter Misused Litigation to Punish Defendants for Their Speech–X v. CCDH

Self-proclaimed free-speech absolutist Elon Musk is notoriously thin-skinned when it comes to criticism directed at him. (As the phrase goes, “he can dish it out, but he can’t take it“). This well-publicized lawsuit is an example of Musk waging lawfare…

Section 230 Applies to Claims Over Hijacked Accounts (Except Maybe Verified Accounts)--Wozniak v. YouTube

Section 230 Applies to Claims Over Hijacked Accounts (Except Maybe Verified Accounts)–Wozniak v. YouTube

More Bitcoin litigation 🙄. This time, malefactors hijacked popular YouTube channels and uploaded videos promoting Bitcoin scams: First, scammers will breach YouTube’s security to unlawfully gain access to verified and popular YouTube channels with tens or hundreds of thousands of…

Tubi's TOS Formation Fails--Campos v. Tubi

Tubi’s TOS Formation Fails–Campos v. Tubi

This is a Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) case 🙄 against the video streaming platform Tubi. Tubi sought to send the case to arbitration per its TOS. The court says no. The account signup page on mobile devices looked like…

Another Court Finds an "Enforceable Browsewrap." MAKE IT STOP--Hawkins v. CMG

Another Court Finds an “Enforceable Browsewrap.” MAKE IT STOP–Hawkins v. CMG

This is a Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) case against a media website, so you have good reason to wonder about the legitimacy and sincerity of the case. The named plaintiff created a WSBTV account by opting to log in…

Think You Understand Online Trespass to Chattels Law? Think Again--In re Meta Healthcare Pixels

Think You Understand Online Trespass to Chattels Law? Think Again–In re Meta Healthcare Pixels

This is one of the many pending “Pixel” cases. If you don’t recall, a “pixel” is a 1×1-pixel image file that is imperceptible to web visitors. A website adds code to its web page that summons the pixel from a…

2023 Quick Links: Leftovers

Consumer Reviews * Route App, Inc. v. Heuberger, 2023 WL 5334192 (D. Utah Aug. 18, 2023): Heuberger argues that Route’s Breach of Contract claim fails because the non-disparagement provision in the Terms is unenforceable under the Consumer Review Fairness Act (“CRFA”)…

2023 Internet Law Year-in-Review

2023 Internet Law Year-in-Review

My roundup of the top Internet Law developments of 2023: 10) California court bans targeted advertising (?). Regulators have sought to suppress online targeted advertising for years, with only minimal success. Then, in Liapes v. Facebook, a California appeals court…

2023 Quick Links: Social Media

Facebook * Meta Platforms, Inc. v. District of Columbia, 2023 WL 5964764 (D.C. Ct. App. Sept. 14, 2023). This is the latest ruling in an investigation by DC Attorney General into Meta’s content moderation practices, especially regarding COVID-19 policies. “The…

Amazon May Be Liable for Merchant's Spycam--M.S. v. Amazon

Amazon May Be Liable for Merchant’s Spycam–M.S. v. Amazon

This case involves an “embedded pinhole camera” “disguised” as a “mountable hook” that a Doe merchant offered in Amazon’s Marketplace. Allegedly, Amazon inspected the item three times: Amazon’s Product Safety Team inspected it to confirm it couldn’t be used to…