This morning, President Trump signed H.R. 1865, the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017 (FOSTA), into law. The bill signing was anticipated, but that doesn’t make the outcome any less terrible. Today, Washington DC regulators…
Section 230 * Backpage.com, LLC, V. Hawley, 2017 WL 5726868 (E.D. Mo Nov. 28, 2017): Backpage cites Doe No. 1 for the proposition that, as an interactive computer service provider, its “choices about what content can appear on the website…
Innovation * NY Times: Russia Wants Innovation, but It’s Arresting Its Innovators * Contigiani et al, Trade Secrets and Innovation: Evidence from the ‘Inevitable Disclosure’ Doctrine. The abstract: Does heightened employer-friendly trade secrecy protection help or hinder innovation? By examining…
You probably remember this case. Copyright owners sued the video hosting site Vimeo for third party uploaded videos that allegedly infringed their copyrights. Given this was the paradigmatic situation the DMCA safe harbor was designed to address, you’d think this…
[Just a reminder that Section 230’s evisceration will happen upon Pres. Trump’s signature] Victims of the 2016 Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, aided by the indefatigable 1-800-LAWFIRM and Excolo Law, sued social media providers. They alleged that the shooter was inspired…
This is a First Amendment lawsuit brought by Facebook and Twitter users against the Governor of Kentucky. Plaintiffs allege that the Governor (Bevin) violated their First Amendment rights by blocking them on Facebook and Twitter. Bevin wants to hear from…
During Congress’ SESTA/FOSTA deliberations, opponents repeatedly promised that the Doe v. Backpage litigation in Massachusetts would imminently provide key insights into Section 230’s purported limitations. Indeed, a week after the Senate passed the Worst of Both Worlds FOSTA, the court…
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…
[As you can tell, my ability to prepare these Quick Links posts has degraded substantially…better late than never?] Copyright * The Executive Corp. v. Oisoon, LLC, 2017 WL 4310113 (M.D. Tenn. Sept. 28, 2017). A default judgment: “A section 1202(b)(1)…
By Guest Blogger Tyler Ochoa Last week, the California Court of Appeal ordered the dismissal of a right of publicity and false-light privacy lawsuit brought by legendary actress Olivia de Havilland against FX Networks over the depiction of her in…