Section 230 had such a drama-filled year that I decided to do a separate roundup, in addition to my annual Internet Law wrapup coming soon. (I know 2020 feels like it was a decade ago…) Trigger warning: this post is…
[Published in the San Jose Mercury-News, January 10, 2021] Section 230, which says that websites aren’t liable for third-party content, has developed an increasingly bad reputation. In December, Pres. Trump vetoed a critical $740 billion military funding bill because Congress…
Contracts * Kidstar v. Facebook, Inc., 2020 WL 4382279 (D.N.J. July 31, 2020). The plaintiff sued Facebook because he lost access to photos in his account. assuming, arguendo, that Plaintiff opened a Facebook account in 2004, the 2009 User Agreement…
This lawsuit, like many others before it, claims that UGC services like YouTube commit illegal discrimination based on how they moderate content. Despite its lack of novelty, this lawsuit got some media coverage for two reasons: (1) most of the…
by guest blogger Marketa Trimble May a licensor limit a copyright license to a certain part of the European Union? The answer lies at the intersection of EU copyright law, EU anti-geoblocking law, and EU competition law. The three areas of…
This blog post covers an FTC closing letter. A few words about FTC closing letters if you’re not familiar with them. When the FTC staff open an investigation but then decide not to take action, staff issues a “closing letter”…
This is the detritus of Laura Loomer’s lawsuit against Twitter for banning her account. A court previously dismissed those claims on Section 230 grounds. She also sued the Council on American-Islamic Relations Foundation (CAIR), claiming they complained to Twitter about…
* “Department of Justice shut down CityXGuide.com and arrested the site’s owner, for the first time utilizing the criminal expansions created under FOSTA/SESTA.” Notice of proceedings. Indictment. * Emily Morgan, On FOSTA and the Failures of Punitive Speech Restrictions, 115…
* John Bean Technologies Corp. v. BGSE Group, LCC (D. Utah Aug. 13, 2020). Plaintiffs are still litigating keyword metatag cases in 2020… JBT asserts likelihood of confusion under a distinct theory known as initial-interest confusion. “Initial-interest confusion ‘results when…
Cameron Atkinson self-describes himself as “a Christian, a published constitutional scholar, a soon-to-be trial and appellate lawyer, and a general hell-raiser.” He also describes himself as “Liberty’s sheriff” and you can even buy t-shirts apparently depicting him in that role….