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

Mealey's Cyber Tech & E-Commerce

January 21, 2025
President Trump Pauses Enforcement Of Act Banning TikTok For 75 Days

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald J. Trump on Jan. 20 issued an executive order requiring the U.S. attorney general not to enforce for 75 days the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which, if enforced on its effective date of Jan. 19, would have resulted in a ban on popular social network TikTok absent a corporate ownership change.
January 17, 2025
Supreme Court Says Law Banning TikTok Does Not Violate 1st Amendment Rights

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 17 held that provisions of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act do not violate the First Amendment rights of petitioners TikTok Inc. and Tik Tok creators and a nonprofit seeking to stop the enforcement of the law that promises to ban the social network on Jan. 19 absent a corporate ownership change, finding that the act’s challenged provisions “further an important Government interest unrelated to the suppression of free expression and do not burden substantially more speech than necessary to further that interest.”
January 17, 2025
Judge Tentatively OKs $7.5M ‘Virtual Diamonds’ Refund In Gambling App Settlement

LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge at a Jan. 16 hearing presented his tentative ruling granting a motion for preliminary approval of a settlement between a mobile casino games developer and a putative class represented by two players who accused the developer of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and state gambling laws, deeming “fair” the settlement, which is projected to require an in-game currency refund to players worth a total of $7.5 million, injunctive relief purportedly worth $163.2 million and attorney fees greater than $1.4 million.
January 16, 2025
Microsoft Browser Extension ‘Steals’ Affiliate Links For Profit, App Operator Says

SEATTLE — An app operator and online content creator that earns funds from online marketing filed a putative class action complaint in Washington federal court against Microsoft Corp. contending that its in-browser shopping extension “systematically steals commission payments from their rightful owners,” writing that Microsoft knowingly takes affiliate links posted by marketers and redirects their expected profits to itself in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL).
January 16, 2025
Gaming Company Urges 9th Circuit To Enforce Arbitration Agreement With Players

SAN FRANCISCO — A gaming company and its co-founders on Jan. 15 filed an appellant brief to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals urging it to reverse a judge’s refusal to enforce its arbitration agreement with players who in a putative class suit say they were deceived into playing games advertised as offering live competition but which in fact involved gameplay against bots, writing that the judge misapplied standards of unconscionability and severability.
January 15, 2025
High Court Hears Arguments In Dispute Over Age-Based Online Texas Porn Law

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 15 heard oral arguments in a case in which Free Speech Coalition Inc. (FSC), a nonprofit adult industry trade association, and other adult entertainment industry petitioners urge reversal of a ruling by the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that vacated an injunction for a Texas law requiring the operators of pornographic websites to verify that their visitors are adults.
January 15, 2025
RFK Jr.-Founded Group Seeks High Court Review Of Ruling Upholding 'Censored' Speech

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Children’s Health Defense (CHD), a nonprofit founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court seeking review of a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling affirming a district court’s dismissal of a suit alleging that Meta Platforms Inc. (formerly Facebook Inc.) violated the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by censoring what CHD says are accurate posts challenging the government’s “orthodoxy” as to the safety of vaccines.
January 15, 2025
9th Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Pro Se X User’s UCL Suit Over Account Suspension

SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed the dismissal with prejudice of a pro se plaintiff’s lawsuit against X Corp. asserting that his account was suspended in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) after he criticized and messaged an adult content creator.
January 15, 2025
Bitcoin Miner Doesn’t Show He Invented Crypto Patent, Federal Circuit Says

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Delaware federal judge was right to reject hearsay evidence regarding a conversation over cocktails at a cryptocurrency conference when holding that a cryptocurrency mining company and its founder failed to show that the founder should be added as the named inventor to another crypto company’s patent, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held.
January 15, 2025
6th Circuit Stays Injunction In Row Over ‘Online Wild West’ Age Verification Law

CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted the Tennessee attorney general’s motion to stay a district court’s preliminary injunction preventing enforcement of the Protect Tennessee Minors Act (PTMA), finding that the attorney general “has shown that the district court likely erred in concluding that the PTMA is facially unconstitutional.”
January 14, 2025
2nd Circuit Agrees: Vimeo Protected By DMCA Safe Harbor For Posts

NEW YORK — A group of record labels failed to show that video sharing website Vimeo Inc. had “red flag” knowledge that user-uploaded videos contained copyrighted musical recordings, a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Jan. 13, affirming a New York federal judge’s finding that the company is covered by a safe harbor in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that offers protection from infringement liability to some websites for user behavior.
January 14, 2025
Supreme Court Won’t Hear Roku’s Arguments On Importing Infringing Products

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 13 decided that it will not consider whether the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) was right to hold that electronics company Roku Inc. failed to show that another company’s telecommunications patent was invalid as obvious, leaving in place an opinion from the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirming the ITC’s findings.
January 13, 2025
Certiorari Denied In Meta’s Advertising Fraud Damages Class Certification Dispute

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 13 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by Meta Platforms Inc. seeking review of a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling affirming the certification of a damages class in a suit alleging fraudulent misrepresentation and concealment related to Meta’s online advertising services.
January 10, 2025
High Court Hears Argument On TikTok’s Bid To Prevent Enforcement Of Law Banning It

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 10 heard oral argument in consolidated petitions filed by TikTok Inc. and Tik Tok creators and a nonprofit seeking to stop the enforcement of a federal law that promises to ban the popular social network on Jan. 19 absent a corporate ownership change.
January 10, 2025
Consumer’s Putative Class Suit For Audible Subscription Without Notice May Proceed

SEATTLE — A Washington federal judge denied a motion by Amazon.com Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary Audible Inc. to dismiss putative class claims alleging that they violated California consumer protection laws, including the state’s unfair competition law (UCL), by enrolling a consumer in an Audible subscription and charging her renewal fees, allegedly without notice.
January 10, 2025
DOJ Opposes Dismissal Of Antitrust Suit Against Rental Market Software Company

GREENSBORO, N.C. — After RealPage Inc., a commercial revenue management software company, filed a motion to dismiss an antitrust suit against it in a North Carolina federal court, the U.S. Department of Justice and attorneys general of multiple states filed a brief urging the court not to dismiss the suit, which alleges that RealPage uses nonpublic information obtained from landlords and runs the information through its algorithmic software to align pricing, thereby impeding the free market process.
January 09, 2025
Content Creators Say PayPal Used ‘Honey’ Browser Extension To ‘Steal’ Profits

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California federal judge on Jan. 8 deferred ruling on an administrative motion to relate four putative class actions brought by influencers and content creators active on YouTube and Instagram who accuse PayPal Inc. of interfering with prospective economic relations and violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by using a popular browser extension to redirect their profits from market affiliate links to itself.
January 08, 2025
Motion To Quash Granted In Trade Secret Suit Over Alleged Stolen Computer Data

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A South Dakota federal magistrate judge granted a motion to quash a subpoena filed by a woman accused by her former employer of breach of contract and violation of state and federal trade secret law for allegedly wiping her former work computer clean and taking trade-secret information with her, finding that the subpoena seeking access to her cell phone records is “grossly overbroad.”
January 07, 2025
Injunction Sought Pending Appeal Of California Social Media Parental Consent Law

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A nationwide trade association for internet companies filed a motion in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, seeking an injunction to prevent the enforcement of a California law requiring parental consent for minors to access personalized feeds on social media after a district court held that certain portions of the law do not violate the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
January 07, 2025
Mother Accuses Roblox, Epic Of Addicting Son To Games For Profit

LOS ANGELES — A minor video game player’s mother filed a products liability lawsuit accusing two video game developers of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by encouraging youth addiction to their video games to maximize profits, writing that the developers intentionally included addictive features in the games despite knowing they are primarily played by youth.
January 03, 2025
6th Circuit Sets Aside FCC Net-Neutrality Order, Cites Lack Of Statutory Authority

CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Jan. 2 granted petitions for review of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Safeguarding and Securing the Open Internet Order, setting the order aside, finding that pursuant to the holding in Loper Bright Enters. v. Raimondo, 144 S. Ct. 2244 (2024), there is “no longer afford deference to the FCC’s reading of the statute,” and therefore “the FCC lacks the statutory authority to impose its desired net-neutrality policies.”
January 03, 2025
Judge Denies Stay In Dispute Over Online Age Verification In Harm To Minors Law

MEMPHIS, Tenn.— One day after issuing a preliminary injunction preventing enforcement of the Protect Tennessee Minors Act (PTMA), a Tennessee federal judge denied the state attorney general’s emergency motion to stay the injunction pending appeal to the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, finding that denial of the emergency motion is appropriate because “there has been no intervening change in precedent in the past twenty-four hours.”
January 02, 2025
Penalties Sought In DOJ Suit Against Cash Advance App Operator Over False Claims

LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), upon referral from the Federal Trade Commission, filed an amended complaint in a California federal court against Dave Inc. and its CEO, alleging that the company which operators a personal finance mobile application to provide users with short-term cash advances violates the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA) by purportedly not offering the instant cash advances as advertised and charging deceptive fees.
December 30, 2024
Trump Asks U.S. Supreme Court To Stay Enforcement Of Law Banning TikTok

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President-elect Donald J. Trump filed an amicus brief supporting neither party in the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking a stay of the enforcement of a federal law that promises to ban the social network TikTok on Jan. 19 absent a corporate ownership change, arguing that the timing of the law’s enforcement interferes with his “ability to manage the United States’ foreign policy.”
December 20, 2024
Amazon Refutes Claims As To Quality Of Care In Telehealth Death Suit Against It

OAKLAND, Calif. — In response to a wrongful death and medical malpractice suit filed in a California state court against Amazon One Medical, a virtual and in-office health care provider, regarding alleged negligent virtual care, an Amazon One Medical spokesperson in a Dec. 19 email reply to Mealey Publications said, “While we are prohibited by law from discussing patient records, we refute claims that a change in the duration of visits or location of a virtual visit has impacted the care provided at Amazon One Medical.”