46 Academics Encourage Congress To Consider Section 230's Benefits

On behalf of ourselves and 44 other academics, Prof. David Levine (Elon) and I sent a letter to Congress regarding the benefits of Section 230. Congress is already focusing plenty of attention on Section 230’s costs, but Section 230’s benefits…

Radio Hosts Aren't Liable for Online Attacks Against Beleaguered Referee--Higgins v. Kentucky Sports Radio

The case relates to the University of Kentucky men’s basketball team’s 2017 season-ending loss at the hands of University of North Carolina–a loss that many fans blamed on referee John Higgins’ officiating. UK fans unleashed their fury against Higgins’ day…

Super Tuesday wasn’t so super for Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard. First, she polled less than 1%–territory usually occupied by withdrawn or fringe candidates. Though, remarkably, she did earn two delegates. Mind blown. Second, the same day, a court completely…

Today, Santa Clara Law announced that we’ve received three gifts totaling $750k that we will use to enhance our already highly successful privacy law program. We’re honored by the generosity of our donors: Larry Sonsini; Paul Gentzkow and his wife Barbara Gentzkow; and Kapil Nanda and…

This case involves a fatal crash after the car occupants used Snapchat’s speed filter to record going 123 mph. Snapchat defended the subsequent personal injury lawsuit on Section 230 grounds. The court previously dismissed the case with leave to amend….

Defendants Keep Getting Arbitration Despite the Anarchy in Online Contract Formation Doctrine

Online contract formation law has gotten strange. The proliferation of “wrap” variations has tied up judges in knots. Despite the increasingly baroque and incoherent legal doctrines, the bottom line has largely remained the same: most online contracts are properly formed…

We live in an upside-down world where “conservatives” are actively seeking to impose must-carry obligations on Internet services by characterizing them as state actors. These arguments are ill-considered as “conservative” doctrine because they would massively expand the scope of government…

This is a long-running case against Yelp initiated by a restaurant in Mammoth Lakes. I first blogged the case in 2013 when the lower court granted Yelp’s anti-SLAPP motion; I also blogged it in 2014 when the appellate court reversed…

Comments on the DOJ's Proposed Modifications to the CCPA Regulations

In October 2019, the California Department of Justice (DOJ) published its first draft of regulations under the CCPA. These regulations attracted 1700 pages of comments, including a submission from me. Earlier this month, the DOJ published proposed revisions to those…

Section 230 Protects Zillow for Bogus Submissions of House Details--924 Bel Air v. Zillow

This lawsuit relates to 924 Bel Air Road in Los Angeles, a house known as “Billionaire” (seriously, who chose that brand???). It is one of the most expensive houses in the world. The house is located on an acre+ lot…