My schedule tends to get busy around each new year, so my year-end recaps keep coming later and later. I hope it’s better late than never. It’s been a rough year for Internet law. As I tweeted in June: When…
[ugh, somehow this got lost in my drafts folder. Sharing it now…] * Vice: “The Impossible Job: Inside Facebook’s Struggle to Moderate Two Billion People.” If you read only one article on content moderation, choose this one. Things I learned included: Facebook…

Yesterday, the California Assembly Committee on Privacy and Consumer Protection held a hearing on the California Consumer Privacy Act. I believe this is the first legislative hearing ever on the law. The initial passage took place in a frenetic week,…

I’m shaking my head at how many politicians block their constituents on social media. What a terrible practice. Today’s case is particularly mind-blowing. Rep. Reisch is a representative in the Missouri House of Representatives tweeting @CheriMO44. The court describes the allegations:…

A pretty interesting copyright dispute is brewing in unexpected circumstances: among rival car washes in Fresno. The plaintiff includes the following language in its brochure and inspection sheet: Dear Customer, While it is our intent to provide you with the…

Yesterday, I did a webinar for the California Lawyers Association on the status of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). This post recaps the discussion. A Quick Overview of the CCPA The CCPA imposes 6 new obligations on covered businesses:…

I did an interview with Vanessa Blum of the Recorder about emoji law. It was first published here. The text: * * * Santa Clara University law professor Eric Goldman is an expert on internet speech. Lately, he’s been rather…

As I’ve mentioned before, I track every U.S. court opinion in Westlaw and Lexis that references “emoji” or “emoticon.” This is not a comprehensive census for several reasons, including my inability to set up alerts when a court displays the…
Dreamstime sells stock photos. It started running Google AdWords in 2004. In 2015, Google organic (?) referrals to Dreamstime “plummeted,” allegedly reducing its number of new customers by 30% in a year. (The opinion isn’t crystal-clear that the traffic drop was…