I’m pleased to announce my essay, The Complicated Story of FOSTA and Section 230. This essay tries to simplify a very complicated set of topics and summarize it in a fairly short and readable piece. I hope this essay provides one-stop-shopping…
I’m finally blogging this Airbnb/HomeAway 230 ruling from 6 weeks ago. Why so long? Honestly, I lacked the emotional fortitude to blog it. The outcome isn’t novel—it reaches the same conclusion as the Airbnb v. San Francisco ruling from 2016 (a…
This is another ownership dispute over a Twitter account. We last blogged this topic several years ago, and none of the disputes we’ve seen have resulted in any definitive rulings. Plaintiff publishes trade publications in the agricultural sector, including “The…
On Wednesday, I’m attending the IAPP event, Content Moderation in 2019, in Washington DC. We’ll be getting some of the old band back together again. Hope to see you there. In anticipation of that, I’m finally posting my delayed roundup…
This is an appeal of a summary judgment ruling in favor of Polyvore, an image clipping and sharing site, also known as a “mood board” app. (The site itself was acquired and, as the court notes, is now shut down.)…
“Philpot has been a professional photographer, in his view, since 2008.” (“in his view” = ouch). He has not found financial success. For example, “he once earned $0.88 for an image of Prince that he took at a concert he…
I’m pleased to share a new article, “Why Section 230 Is Better Than the First Amendment.” It’s still in draft, so I’d be grateful for your comments. As you know, the future of Section 230 looks bleak. This paper addresses…
This case reaches a relatively non-controversial outcome. It rejects an arbitration clause in an online TOS. Still, how the court reaches that conclusion should set off warning bells for everyone trying to impose arbitration in an online TOS. The bar…
This is a lawsuit for defamation brought by Jason Miller. The particular claims in question arise out of a tweet. Miller was an advisor on the Trump campaign and later became a commentator and consultant. He was allegedly involved in…
This case is before the same district court judge who handled Fields v. Twitter and Copeland v. Twitter. It involves the 2015 terrorist attack in Paris, but “[t]here are no allegations in the AC that Abaaoud, Laachraoui, or any of the…