Anti-Circumvention Takedowns Aren’t Covered by 512(f)–Yout v. RIAA

[I’ll blog the Supreme Court’s cert grant in Gonzalez v. Google probably later this week.] Yout’s software allows users to rip digital streams, such as from YouTube. It sought a declaratory judgment that it did not violate 17 USC 1201(a)(1)…

Five Ways That the California Age-Appropriate Design Code (AADC/AB 2273) Is Radical Policy

Five Ways That the California Age-Appropriate Design Code (AADC/AB 2273) Is Radical Policy

When a proposed new law is sold as “protecting kids online,” regulators and commenters often accept the sponsors’ claims uncritically (because…kids). This is unfortunate because those bills can harbor ill-advised policy ideas. The California Age-Appropriate Design Code (AADC / AB2273,…

Some Memes About California's Age-Appropriate Design Code (AB 2273)

Some Memes About California’s Age-Appropriate Design Code (AB 2273)

Today, I’m continuing my coverage of CA AADC (AB 2273) with a few memes on the subject: * * * * * * * * * My caption: “CAPTCHA vendors are training their age assurance algorithms for CA’s Age Appropriate…

Section 230 Protect Apple's App Store from Claims Over Cryptocurrency Theft--Diep v. Apple

Section 230 Protect Apple’s App Store from Claims Over Cryptocurrency Theft–Diep v. Apple

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 in Diep’s case and $500k in Nagao’s case (ouch). The plaintiffs’…

An Interview Regarding AB 2273/the California Age-Appropriate Design Code (AADC)

An Interview Regarding AB 2273/the California Age-Appropriate Design Code (AADC)

I did a media interview regarding AB 2273 that I thought was worth sharing here. For more on the bill, see my prior coverage: Op-ed Explainer Deep dive Can the existing UK Age-Appropriate Design Code tell us anything about what…

Court Dissolves hiQ's Injunction Against LinkedIn--hiQ v. LinkedIn

Court Dissolves hiQ’s Injunction Against LinkedIn–hiQ v. LinkedIn

hiQ was a data snarfer. Specifically, it was “a ‘people analytics’ company that provided information to businesses about their workforces based on statistical analysis of LinkedIn members’ wholly public profiles.” In May 2017, LinkedIn sent hiQ a C&D and blocked…

My Comments to the CPPA Regarding its Initial CPRA Proposed Regulations

My Comments to the CPPA Regarding its Initial CPRA Proposed Regulations

I filed comments with the CPPA on their proposed regulations pursuant to the CPRA. Read my comments here. Preparing those comments was a truly joyless task. Analyzing CPRA regulations is literally “read them and weep.” Some hot spots: The CPPA…

Op-Ed: The Plan to Blow Up the Internet, Ostensibly to Protect Kids Online (Regarding AB 2273)

Op-Ed: The Plan to Blow Up the Internet, Ostensibly to Protect Kids Online (Regarding AB 2273)

[I published this anti-AB 2273 op-ed in Capitol Weekly. For more on the problems with AB 2273, see my deep dive and short explainer.] The California Legislature is aggressively pursuing several wide-sweeping and radical proposals to regulate the Internet. One…

A Short Explainer of How California's Age-Appropriate Design Code Bill (AB2273) Would Break the Internet

A Short Explainer of How California’s Age-Appropriate Design Code Bill (AB2273) Would Break the Internet

It’s “burn-down-the-Internet” week on the blog, during which I will recap three bad California bills that the California legislature is poised to enact. Today’s bill is AB 2273, the most pernicious of the three. It’s styled as a “protect kids…

School Can Discipline Student for Impersonating Teacher Online, Even if Other Students Added the Worst Content--Kutchinski v. Freeland School District

School Can Discipline Student for Impersonating Teacher Online, Even if Other Students Added the Worst Content–Kutchinski v. Freeland School District

This case involves a 14 year old student HK (and his friends) who, while off-campus, thought it would be funny to create a fake Instagram profile of his biology teacher, Schmidt. I’ve blogged SO MANY similar cases since 2005 (see…