[It’s impossible to blog about Section 230 without reminding you that Congress is on the cusp of gutting it.] Thomas Hall is a lawyer and author. He claims he was targeted for email harassment by several individuals. He further claims…
Justice System * Paleteria La Michoacana, Inc. v. Productos Lacteos Tocumbo S.A., No. 11-1623 (D.D.C. Mar. 30, 2017): “The Court notes that a growing number of legal scholars are turning to blogs and other online media to publish their work…
[Note: I very rarely blog about general politics, and I promise that won’t change. However, times are not normal. We have elected a president who lies for sport. takes more hypocritical positions in a week than most of us will…
This is a noncompete dispute. Defendant Vevea worked for Mobile Mini. She signed an agreement with Mobile Mini restricting her post-employment activities. Specifically, she agreed: not to work in the Portable Storage Business at a location within fifty miles of…
[It’s impossible to blog on Section 230 rulings right now without acknowledging that Section 230 is facing its most serious threat to date. I doubt the bills would change the result in this ruling, but the bills would so radically…
Fake News * NY Times: From Headline to Photograph, a Fake News Masterpiece * Data and Society: Media Manipulation and Disinformation Online * Wired: Inside the Macedonian Fake-News Complex * Mark Verstraete, Derek E. Bambauer, & Jane R. Bambauer, Identifying…
A new anti-Section 230 bill, the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act of 2017, will be introduced in the Senate imminently, perhaps tomorrow. [UPDATE: It has been introduced as S. 1693]. It is being introduced by six senators (Senators Portman, Blumenthal,…
Defamation * Gillon v. Bernstein, Civ. No. 2:12-4891 (WJM) (D.N.J. Nov. 3, 2016). No liability for negative Ripoff Report. * Jackson v. Mayweather, 2017 WL 1131869 (Cal. Ct. App. March 27, 2017). CA’s anti-SLAPP law protects the following Facebook/Instagram post: “the real reason me…
A couple more online contract formation cases to enliven your Saturday: McGhee v. NAB This case involves mobile credit card processing services. The plaintiffs are merchants who think they were overcharged for card readers. The vendor invoked the arbitration clause…
Advertising * David A. Hyman et al, Going Native: Can Consumers Recognize Native Advertising? Does It Matter?, 19 Yale J.L. & Tech. 77 (2017): “We tested sixteen examples of native advertising. For fifteen of the sixteen examples, fewer than 50% of…