Mealey's Cyber Tech & E-Commerce : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Cyber Tech & E-Commerce

September 17, 2024
Yelp Agrees To Magistrate Oversight In Stolen Info Antitrust Suit Against Google

SAN FRANCISCO — Internet search platform Yelp Inc. consented to jurisdiction by a federal magistrate judge over further proceedings in its California federal court suit against multinational search engine tech company Google LLC asserting antitrust violations pursuant to the Sherman Act regarding Google’s alleged “numerous anti-competitive practices, including stealing information from Yelp’s website and passing it off as Google’s own.”
September 16, 2024
Judge: Trump Liable For Infringing Use Of ‘Electric Avenue’ In Campaign Video

NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York on Sept. 13 granted singer Eddy Grant’s partial motion for partial summary judgment against former President Donald J. Trump and his re-election campaign, holding that the singer adequately showed that Trump’s use of Grant’s song “Electric Avenue” in a video on Twitter does not constitute fair use; the judge also denied a motion for partial summary judgment from the Trump team.
September 16, 2024
Panel Says Suit Against Crypto Exchange For False Security Claims Not Arbitrable

SAN FRANCISCO — A California appellate panel affirmed a trial court’s denial of a cryptocurrency exchange’s petition to compel arbitration of claims that it misrepresented the security of its platform in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws, finding that the plaintiffs’ claims are inarbitrable because they seek public injunctive relief, thereby affirming the opposite conclusion of that reached by a federal judge hearing similar claims brought by some of the same plaintiffs.
September 13, 2024
Judge Dismisses Patent Infringement Claims Against Hulu Over Ad Stream Technology

LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge dismissed a suit filed by a media company against streaming service Hulu, alleging patent infringement regarding patents relating to integrating advertising into digital media streams, finding that “[t]he claims are patent ineligible” because they “do not contain an inventive concept.”
September 13, 2024
Magistrate Judge Won’t Dismiss UCL Suit Over ‘Sunset’ Of Payroll Software

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal magistrate judge on Sept. 12 denied a software provider’s motion to dismiss a suit against it for breach of contract and violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL), brought by a payroll company that alleges that it unlawfully lost access to payroll software and searchable client data contained therein after paying licensing fees for more than 20 years.
September 13, 2024
Judge Grants Injunction In 1st Amendment Row Over Utah Social Media Moderation Law

SALT LAKE CITY — In a decision addressing two cases challenging Utah state legislation to moderate social media content for minors, a Utah federal judge in the first case granted a preliminary injunction to an internet trade association company seeking to prevent enforcement of the legislation, finding that the trade association is likely to succeed on the merits of its claim that the law violates the First and 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
September 13, 2024
Utah Judge Rules For Insurer In Coverage Dispute Over Ill. BIPA Violation Claims

SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah judge entered judgment in favor of a general liability insurer in its declaratory judgment lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying action alleging its insured violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), finding that various policy exclusions bar coverage.
September 11, 2024
BIPA Violation Suit Did Not Trigger Coverage, Illinois Majority Rules In Reversal

CHICAGO — A majority of an Illinois appeals court panel on Sept. 10 held that an underlying lawsuit alleging that an insured violated the Biometric Information Privacy Act did not trigger coverage under its “Cyber, Data Risk, and Media Insurance” policies, reversing the lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of the insured and remanding for the court to enter summary judgment in favor of the insurer on the issue of its duty to defend.
September 11, 2024
Massachusetts High Court Affirms Snapchat Surveillance Case Dismissal

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court affirmed dismissal of a case that the commonwealth brought against a man accused of unlawful firearm possession and related crimes after the man tried for three years to get the commonwealth to produce discovery related to the Boston Police Department’s undercover monitoring of Snapchat social media accounts, finding that “discovery was relevant and material” and that the judge’s dismissal was not an abuse of discretion because the department and commonwealth did not “make any attempt to comply” with the judge’s discovery order.
September 11, 2024
High Court Extends Time To Respond To Stay Request, Cert Petition In Broadband Row

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a docket-only order, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor granted a request filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James for an extension of time to respond to the New York State Telecommunications Association and other broadband providers’ petition for a writ of certiorari and application to stay the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling reversing a district court’s judgment that granted a permanent injunction barring the enforcement of New York’s Affordable Broadband Act (ABA) and found that the Federal Communications Act of 1934 preempts state regulation of broadband services.
September 10, 2024
Hunter Biden Wins Attorney Fees From Laptop Files Poster

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on Sept. 9 granted Hunter Biden’s motion for attorney fees against a conservative activist and his organization, whom Biden accuses of violating computer fraud laws and California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by posting data from his private laptop online, finding that Biden is entitled to fees incurred defending against a frivolous motion to strike pursuant to California’s anti-Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) law.
September 09, 2024
2nd Circuit: Internet Archive’s Book Lending Infringed On Copyrights

NEW YORK — The Internet Archive (IA) did not have the right to engage in a process it called “controlled digital lending” in which it digitized books and loaned them to individuals online, a panel of the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held, affirming a New York federal judge’s grant of summary judgment in favor of several publishers.
September 09, 2024
TikTok Not Immune From Its Own First-Party Expression In Curating, Promoting Videos

PHILADELPHIA — A panel of the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed in part and vacated in part the judgment of a Pennsylvania trial court dismissing a lawsuit by the mother of a 10-year-old girl who accidentally asphyxiated herself after watching a video encouraging similar behavior curated by an online video service and featured on the girl’s “For You Page,” ruling that the curation and promotion of videos is first-party expressive conduct, not third-party conduct for which the service was immune from liability under the Communications Decency Act (CDA).
September 09, 2024
Care Gig Platform, FTC Reach $8.5M Agreement In Case Over Wages, Cancellations

AUSTIN, Texas — Care.com, a child and older adult care gig platform, will pay $8.5 million to end claims by the Federal Trade Commission that it has systematically deceived caregivers about wages available for potential jobs and at the same time failed to give families looking for care an easy way to cancel their paid memberships.
September 06, 2024
Judge ‘Cautions’ WhatsApp, Denies Reconsideration To Spyware Firm In Fraud Dispute

OAKLAND, Calif. — A California federal judge on Sept. 5 denied a spyware firm’s motion for reconsideration of the judge’s order denying as moot the firm’s request to compel WhatsApp Inc.’s production of a privilege log in WhatsApp’s suit against the firm related to its alleged computer fraud because WhatsApp has now produced the log but “caution[ed]” WhatsApp that what it calls ‘“oversights’ may be grounds for a different type of sanction.”
September 05, 2024
Judge Again Rejects Gaming Company’s Bid To Arbitrate False Advertising Claims

SAN FRANCISCO — After soliciting another round of supplemental briefing on new state law precedent, a California federal judge on Sept. 4 again denied a gaming company and its co-founders’ motion to compel arbitration of putative class claims against them for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by falsely advertising their mobile games as offering live competition, reiterating that the arbitration agreement is unconscionable and unenforceable.
September 05, 2024
9th Circuit Reverses Injunction Denial In X Corp’s Bid To Stop Bill Enforcement

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 4 reversed and remanded a district court order denying a motion for a preliminary injunction filed by X Corp., formerly known as Twitter Inc., to enjoin the enforcement of California legislation requiring social media companies to post semiannual reports detailing their terms of service and content moderation policies, finding that a preliminary injunction is merited because X Corp is likely to succeed on the merits of its claim that the legislation’s reporting requirement violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
September 05, 2024
Spyware Firm Seeks Reconsideration Of Denial As To WhatsApp’s Privilege Log

OAKLAND, Calif. — Pursuant to a California federal judge’s order granting its motion for leave, a spyware firm filed a motion for reconsideration of the judge’s order denying as moot the firm’s request to compel WhatsApp Inc.’s production of a privilege log, asserting that WhatsApp falsely represented that it would produce the privilege log in WhatsApp’s suit against the firm related to its alleged computer fraud.
September 04, 2024
Judge Denies Motion To Deny Class Certification In Moderator Suit Against TikTok

SAN FRANCISCO — Stating that “the Court is confused as to why this motion was filed at all,” a California federal judge denied a motion to deny class certification by TikTok Inc. and its parent company in a putative class action regarding the defendants’ alleged negligence in failing to protect content moderators from harm, finding that the defendants failed to show why excluding from the class those who signed arbitration agreements “should defeat class certification.”
September 03, 2024
Judge: Investors’ Claims Against TikTok’s Content Moderator Survive Dismissal

MIAMI — A federal judge in Florida denied a motion from a French telecommunications company that provided content moderation for TikTok Inc. to dismiss a putative class complaint brought against them by investors who claim that the company made false statements to investors about its use of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) images to train moderators, holding that the investors adequately substantiated falsity and scienter to survive dismissal.
August 29, 2024
9th Circuit Affirms Arbitrator Award In Copyright Fight Over Video Game Cheats

SAN FRANCISCO — A Washington federal judge did not err by approving an arbitrator’s award of nearly $4.4 million against the creator of a video game cheating software on copyright claims brought by the developer of a game, a panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held, finding that the arbitrator committed no errors in litigating the case.
August 29, 2024
Yelp Files Antitrust Suit Against Google, Alleges Online Search ‘Monopoly Power’

SAN FRANCISCO — Internet search platform Yelp Inc. on Aug. 28 sued multinational search engine tech company Google LLC in a California federal court, asserting antitrust violations pursuant to the Sherman Act regarding Google’s alleged “numerous anti-competitive practices, including stealing information from Yelp’s website and passing it off as Google’s own.”
August 29, 2024
Judge Dismisses Advertiser’s ‘Click-Through Fraud’ Claims Against Reddit

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted Reddit Inc.’s motion to dismiss a tech company’s putative class action accusing it of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and of breach of contract by allegedly charging fraudulent fees per click on digital advertisements, finding that the plaintiff lacks standing but granting it leave to amend.
August 28, 2024
Scheduling Order Issued In Remanded Row Over Florida Social Media Moderation Law

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — In a case on remand from the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, a Florida federal judge issued a scheduling order in the case previously stayed pending a challenge ultimately decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, which held that suits over the social media content laws in Florida and Texas were not properly before the court because neither the 11th Circuit nor the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, respectively, conducted the necessary analysis for a facial challenge to the statutes under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
August 28, 2024
Epic Games Agrees To Pay Nearly $400K To Google Over Antitrust Counterclaim

SAN FRANCISCO — Eight months after a jury entered a verdict in favor or Epic Games Inc. in its antitrust dispute with Google LLC over the Android app market, Epic agreed to pay $398,931.23 to settle Google’s counterclaim against it for breach of Google’s Developer Distribution Agreement (DDA) in violation of the Sherman Act, stating that Epic will “forgo adjudication” of its defense that the DDA provisions Epic is accused of violating were found unlawful during a jury trial to avoid further delay of the final judgment in the case.