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

Mealey's Cyber Tech & E-Commerce

October 06, 2023
Judge Grants Final Approval To $10M Settlement In Roblox Digital Goods Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on Oct. 5 granted final approval to a $10 million settlement to resolve putative class claims that will return more than half of “Robux” that 8 million users of the Roblox online video game lost when the game deleted in-game digital items the users had purchased, allegedly in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL).
October 06, 2023
Federal Judge Rejects SEC Bid For Interlocutory Appeal In Crypto Suit

NEW YORK — A New York federal judge denied a request from the Securities and Exchange Commission for interlocutory appeal in a case brought by the commission against a crypto asset firm it accused of selling cryptocurrencies without registering them as a security, finding that the SEC did not show that there was a substantial ground for difference of opinion
October 06, 2023
SEC Says Court Should Reject Coinbase’s Motion For Judgment On Crypto Case

NEW YORK — The Securities and Exchange Commission says that Coinbase Inc.’s motion for a judgment on the pleadings should be denied, arguing in a memorandum of law that Coinbase is asking the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to rule that sales of cryptocurrency on its platform can never involve an investment contract because the SEC says this runs afoul of established tests to determine whether a product is a security.
October 05, 2023
Apple Appeals ‘Breathtakingly Broad’ Injunction In Epic App Store Antitrust Row

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a petition for certiorari filed one day after Epic Games Inc. filed its own petition in the same suit, Apple Inc. asks the U.S. Supreme Court to provide guidance on whether it is appropriate to issue a universal injunction that provides relief to all affected nonparties when there has been no class certification.
October 05, 2023
5th Circuit Grants Stay, Carries Stay Motion In Worker’s Protected Speech Case

NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a pair of two-page orders issued in three consolidated appeals concerning a former employee’s claims of protected speech granted an unopposed motion for a temporary administrative stay and carried with the cases an opposed motion to stay the contempt order, filed together by Southwest Airlines Co.
October 05, 2023
Justices Debate Mootness In ADA Website Tester Suit That Is ‘Dead, Dead, Dead’

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In Oct. 4 oral arguments in an Americans with Disabilities (ADA) lawsuit over a hotel’s website, U.S. Supreme Court justices questioned why the case, which Justice Elena Kagan described as “dead, dead, dead in all the ways that something can be dead,” should not be declared moot in light of the plaintiff’s voluntary dismissal of discrimination claims.
October 04, 2023
Twitter User Denied Certiorari In Suit Over State Action Censorship For COVID Posts

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for certiorari by a doctor who sought guidance on the proper pleadings standards to allege state-sponsored censorship related to Twitter Inc.’s suspension of her social media account, letting stand the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ finding that the petitioner did not sufficiently allege conspiracy between the White House and Twitter in a purported effort to silence her views on COVID-19 and vaccines, which conflicted with those of President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s administration.
October 03, 2023
Judge Compels Arbitration Of Misleading ‘Self-Driving’ Claims Against Tesla

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted Tesla Inc.’s motion to compel arbitration against four of five putative class action plaintiffs who accused it of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by misrepresenting the capabilities of its vehicles’ “self-driving” technology, found the fifth plaintiff’s claims time-barred and denied the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction and provisional class certification.
October 03, 2023
Judge: Statements That AI Lending Platform Is ‘Magical’ Were Optimistic, Puffery

CINCINNATI — Claims that a lending platform’s artificial intelligence’s “magical” abilities would “shine” during periods of risk are nothing more than optimistic statements and puffery, while claims that its model could approve more loans at lower rates than traditional systems during such times are verifiable and actionable, a federal judge in Ohio said in partly granting motions to dismiss a securities class action.
October 02, 2023
Solicitor General To Argue In 2 High Court Social Media State Action Suits

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court in its Oct. 2 order list granted motions by the U.S. solicitor general to participate as amicus curiae in oral arguments in two cases that present questions about when a government employee’s blocking of individuals from social media accounts constitutes a state action resulting in violations of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
October 02, 2023
Supreme Court Rebuffs Question On Direct Copyright Liability For Online Streaming

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 2 denied certiorari to a group of music publishers that sought clarification over whether direct infringement liability for making copyrighted materials available for online download and streaming fell to the individual that ordered the infringing acts or to the parties who “pressed the button,” in response to the directive, to make the works available to the public.
September 29, 2023
Copyright Holders Opposing Dismissal Say AI Companies Want To ‘Rewrite’ Law

SAN FRANCISCO — A group of copyright holders including comedian Sarah Silverman filed a brief opposing OpenAI Inc. and affiliated companies’ motion to dismiss their putative class action for copyright infringement, urging the court to reject OpenAI’s “misleading and self-serving reframing of the U.S. Copyright Act” and contending that its use of their works to train its ChatGPT AI program infringed on their copyrights.
September 29, 2023
High Court Will Consider Constitutionality Of Texas, Florida Social Media Laws

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 29 granted certiorari in a pair of cases over whether social media content-moderation laws enacted by Florida and Texas comply with the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
September 29, 2023
EPA Sues EBay For Selling Toxic, Pollution-Causing Car Parts, Pesticides

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — In a complaint filed in New York federal court on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Justice alleges that eBay Inc. is in violation of federal environmental laws by selling motor vehicle parts and accessories, pesticides and paint remover products that run afoul of pollution standards and are toxic.
September 27, 2023
Injunctive Relief Class Certified In Student Athletes’ Likeness Case

OAKLAND, Calif. — A federal judge in California certified an injunctive relief class in a consolidated case by college athletes who allege that they are injured by certain National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules that restrict the compensation they may receive for the commercial use of their names, images and likenesses (NIL) by the schools they attend.
September 27, 2023
Chipmaker Wins Summary Judgment On Class MDL Claims For ‘Exclusive Dealing’

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on Sept. 26 granted summary judgment sought by a modem chipmaker on putative class claims against it brought by plaintiffs in a multidistrict litigation who accused it of exclusive dealing to two original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), finding that the plaintiffs failed to allege an actual antitrust injury and failed to plead a violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL).
September 25, 2023
Justice Alito Extends Stay On Biden Administration Social Media Injunction By 5 Days

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The administrative stay of a preliminary injunction banning certain federal government parties from coercing social media platforms on content moderation decisions regarding user content was extended Sept. 22, when U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. issued an order revising the end date of the stay, which he issued Sept. 14, from Sept. 22 to Sept. 27.
September 25, 2023
Judge Relates Authors’ AI Suits Against Meta For Copyright Infringement

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on Sept. 22 brought a putative class action against Meta Platforms Inc. for copyright infringement in its training of its artificial intelligence software filed by authors including Michael Chabon into the docket of a similar suit filed by a group of writers including comedian Sarah Silverman, who had moved to relate the cases.
September 25, 2023
Panel: Patent Settlement With Microsoft Dooms Later Infringement Claims

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found Sept. 22 that a provision in a 2017 settlement between a patent owner and Microsoft Corp. reaches an allegedly infringing software program and website.
September 21, 2023
Trump Says Recent 5th Circuit Ruling Supports Coercion Argument In Twitter Suit

PASADENA, Calif. — In a citation of supplemental authority in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, Donald J. Trump argues that the Fifth Circuit’s recent upholding of some injunctive relief against the government in Missouri, et al. v. Joseph R. Biden Jr., et al., No. 23-30445, 5th Cir., supports his position that “the government coerced and encouraged social media platforms to suppress” the protected speech of himself and other conservative parties, including Twitter Inc.’s suspension of their accounts, which are at issue in upcoming oral argument in the present case.
September 21, 2023
Best-Selling Fiction Writers Sue OpenAI For ‘Systematic Theft On A Mass Scale’

NEW YORK — The Authors Guild and 17 of its members, who are best-selling fiction writers, filed a putative class complaint against OpenAI Inc. and related companies (OpenAI, collectively) in New York federal court, accusing the artificial intelligence research and deployment firm of “flagrant and harmful” infringement of their copyrighted works in the training of its large language models (LLMs) without obtaining licenses or permission.
September 21, 2023
Sarah Silverman Seeks To Relate AI Suit Against Meta With Michael Chabon’s

SAN FRANCISCO — A group of writers including comedian Sarah Silverman moved in California federal court to relate their putative class action against Meta Platforms Inc. for copyright infringement in its training of its artificial intelligence software with a similar suit filed by authors including Michael Chabon, one day after Meta moved to dismiss the litigation involving Silverman.
September 20, 2023
Trump, Eddy Grant Argue Infringement Of ‘Electric Avenue’ In Tweeted Video

NEW YORK — In competing summary judgment motions filed in New York federal court, former president Donald J. Trump and singer Eddy Grant dispute whether the inclusion of Grant’s song “Electric Avenue” in a campaign video posted to Trump’s Twitter account constituted fair use, with the parties also disagreeing as to whether the musician can maintain separate copyright infringement claims for the song’s composition and recording.
September 20, 2023
Texas Federal Magistrate Judge: Meta Owes Patent Owner $138,004 In Costs

AUSTIN, Texas — A patent owner is entitled to recoup $138,004 in deposition and copying costs from Meta Platforms Inc., a federal magistrate judge in Texas has found nearly one year after a jury awarded $174,530,785 in connection with infringement by the “Facebook Live” feature.
September 18, 2023
COMMENTARY: Generative AI In Legal Practice: Technical And Legal Aspects To Consider

By Dr. Ilia Kolochenko