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

Mealey's Cyber Tech & E-Commerce

August 02, 2024
Panel Remands In $2B Jury Verdict Appeal Over Software’s ‘Stolen’ Trade Secrets

RICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia appellate court reversed a lower court’s judgment and remanded for a new trial after a jury awarded $2,036,860,045 to Appian Corp., a software company offering business process management (BPM) software that sued BPM competitor Pegasystems Inc., alleging that Pega engaged in corporate espionage to steal Appian’s trade secrets, finding that because the lower court “committed a series of errors,” the judgment must be reversed.
August 01, 2024
Judge: Republicans’ UCL Suit Viable Against Google, But Fails On Merits

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge in a mixed ruling on July 31 found that Google LLC cannot claim immunity as an online publisher from claims that it violated California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by diverting Republican National Committee (RNC) fundraising emails to users’ spam folders but granted Google’s motion to dismiss on the merits.
July 31, 2024
Investor: CrowdStrike Misled Investors About Testing Before Global Tech Outage

AUSTIN, Texas — A retirement system says in a putative class complaint filed on July 30 in a Texas federal court that a cybersecurity company and certain of its executives issued misleading claims to investors about its internal testing systems before a recent software glitch caused a global outage of computers on the Microsoft Windows operating system, leading to a steep drop in value for the company’s stock.
July 26, 2024
COMMENTARY: Cyber War Exclusions

By Peter A. Halprin and Brittany Parks
July 30, 2024
6th Circuit Hears Arguments On State-Action Dispute Over Deleted Facebook Posts

CINCINNATI — On remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that the state-action doctrine requires showing that an official has the authority to speak on behalf of the entity he represents and exercised that authority, the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 29 heard oral arguments in a dispute over whether a public official’s deleting posts from his personal Facebook account where he posted about his job constitutes state action.
July 30, 2024
Judge Rejects ‘Unconscionable’ Arbitration Of Class Suit Against Gaming Company

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge 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) and other laws by falsely advertising their mobile games as offering live competition, finding that the arbitration agreement contained provisions that would likely cause “years” of delay.
July 30, 2024
Meta Will Pay $1.4 Billion To Settle Texas’ Biometric Data Privacy Lawsuit

MARSHALL, Texas — Meta Platforms Inc., formerly known as Facebook Inc., will pay $1.4 billion to end claims by Texas that it captured and used the personal biometric data of millions of state residents, according to an agreed final judgment filed in a Texas court on July 30.
July 30, 2024
Federal Circuit: Regulation Applies To Amended Claims In Internet Patent Dispute

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a dispute between a software company and Apple and Motorola over a patent regarding how internet content is displayed on mobile devices, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s determination that a regulation addressing estoppel provisions in patent office proceedings is valid but vacated and remanded the board’s decision in two reexamination proceedings for it to reconsider the regulation’s application to previously issued claims.
July 29, 2024
Student-Athletes Seek Preliminary Approval Of $2.5B NIL Settlement

OAKLAND, Calif. — College athletes who have accused the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and five conferences of violating the Sherman Act by restricting compensation for the commercial use of their names, images and likenesses (NIL) filed a motion July 26 in a federal court in California for preliminary approval of a $2,576,000,000 settlement, which the players say will “reshape the economic landscape of college sports.”
July 26, 2024
Judge Refuses To Toss Dispute Between Disney And Actor Over Social Media Posts

LOS ANGELES — A California federal court judge denied Disney’s motion to dismiss a wrongful discharge case filed by an actor who was fired from the Disney+ show The Mandalorian purportedly due to the posts she made on social media platforms, including X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram, finding that Disney failed to show that it engaged in expressive association that is protected under the First Amendment.
July 26, 2024
In 1st Impression Case, Panel Says Snapchat, Meta Must Provide Subpoenaed Info

SAN DIEGO — In a case of first impression, a California appellate court granted petitions for writs of mandate, ruling that the Stored Communications Act’s (SCA) disclosure limitations are inapplicable to bar compliance with subpoenas requesting access to social media posts made by a murder victim on Facebook and Snapchat because the platforms’ decisions to access their “users’ communications” puts them outside the SCA’s disclosure limitations.
July 25, 2024
Hospice Files Defamation Suit Against Anonymous Google Reviewers

LOS ANGELES — Alleging that it is being targeted by a business competitor who has “coordinated” the posting of “fake” negative reviews online, a hospice filed a lawsuit in California state court asserting claims against 1,000 John Does who posted the negative reviews for defamation and violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL).
July 23, 2024
Magistrate Grants Adult Video Company’s Bid To Serve ISP In Illegal Download Row

ORLANDO, Fla. — A Florida federal magistrate judge on July 22 granted in part a motion filed by an adult video company to serve the internet service provider (ISP) of an unknown defendant accused of copyright infringement related to alleged illegal downloading and distributing of the video company’s content, finding that because serving the ISP is necessary for the company to proceed in this case, the company may serve the ISP with specified protections regarding identifying information.
July 22, 2024
9th Circuit Hears Arguments On X Corp.’s Appeal As To Social Media Moderating Bill

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in an appeal by X Corp., formerly known as Twitter Inc., of a district court order denying its request for a preliminary injunction to enjoin the enforcement of California legislation requiring social media companies to post their terms of service reports twice a year, which X Corp. argues violates its free speech rights.
July 18, 2024
Panel Remands For Discovery Cost Calculations In Dispute Between Gamer And Twitch

SAN FRANCISCO — A California appellate court on July 17 reversed a lower court’s order denying an online gamer’s motion to tax or strike Twitch Interactive’s electronic discovery costs in the gamer’s breach of contract suit against Twitch for suspending his Twitch account, finding that remand is required for a correct determination of Twitch’s discovery costs.
July 17, 2024
Federal Judge: Trademark Claims Over Social Media Giant’s Use Of ‘X’ Can Continue

ORLANDO, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida largely denied a motion to dismiss from the company formerly known as Twitter Inc., finding that a much smaller social media advertising company adequately supported its claims that the social media giant infringed on its “X SOCIALMEDIA” trademark when it rebranded to X Corp. after being purchased by Elon Musk.
July 17, 2024
Judge Won’t Freeze Assets Of Electronics Company Accused Of Faking Online Reviews

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California federal judge on July 16 denied a consumer’s motion for a preliminary injunction freezing more than $5 million of a Chinese manufacturer-owned company’s assets pending the outcome of his lawsuit accusing it of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other statutes for allegedly faking reviews on Amazon.com to sell shoddy electronics, finding insufficient evidence of damages.
July 17, 2024
Rehearing Granted In GoDaddy TCPA Suit, Class Settlement Opinion Clarified

ATLANTA — An 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on July 16 granted a petition for panel rehearing filed after a May opinion vacated a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) class settlement with GoDaddy.com LLC and issued an opinion substituting its previous opinion with one that was “the same as our previous except that we clarify that the opinion of this Court is delivered solely in Section III.C.iii, in which” the entire panel joined; the class’ rehearing petition sought clarification for “the basis of” the May decision, arguing that the opinion titled “Opinion of the Court” was not actually that.
July 15, 2024
Connecticut Court Hears Arguments On CDA Immunity In Snapchat Assault Suit

WATERBURY, Conn. — Snap Inc., which operates the Snapchat social network, squared off in Connecticut court against the parents of a minor who was sexually assaulted by two men that she met through the platform, with the social media company asserting that it is immune from liability for the rapists’ actions under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA).
July 12, 2024
DMCA Claims In GitHub AI License Dispute Dismissed For 3rd, Final Time

OAKLAND, Calif. — John Doe defendants suing GitHub Inc. and others for a purported lack of attribution of their shared materials in artificial intelligence (AI) products saw their claims under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) dismissed for a third time, this time with prejudice.
July 12, 2024
Anonymous Messaging App And Founders Must Pay $5M, Ban Minors Under Consent Order

LOS ANGELES — The Federal Trade Commission and the state of California jointly filed a consent order in California federal court with a company that operates an anonymous messaging app and two of its founders requiring the defendants to pay $5 million and permanently enjoining the company from allowing minors to use its app, resolving claims that the company violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws.
July 12, 2024
Judge Finds Verdict For Epic In Google Play Antitrust Row Supported By Evidence

SAN FRANCISCO — More than three months after denying a motion for judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) by Google Inc. in its antitrust dispute with Epic Games Inc. over the Android app market, a California federal judge issued an order with a “detailed explanation” for why a jury verdict in Epic’s favor was supported by substantial evidence and why the defendant was not entitled to a new trial.
July 11, 2024
Split 9th Circuit: Equal Rights Protections Include U.S. Citizenship Bias

HONOLULU — Equal rights protections in 42 U.S. Code Section 1981 prohibit citizenship or alienage discrimination of U.S. citizens in hiring, a divided Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, reversing a trial court’s dismissal of putative class discrimination claims by a naturalized U.S. citizen and creating a split with the Fifth Circuit’s 1986 decision in Chaiffetz v. Robertson Research Holding, Ltd.
July 10, 2024
Denying FTC’s Motion To Compel Amazon Messages, Judge Instead Orders Deposition

SEATTLE — Acknowledging that production of Amazon.com Inc.’s internal litigation hold notices may ultimately be necessary to establish if any spoliation occurred due to its employees’ use of an ephemeral messaging app related to antitrust claims against it, a Washington federal judge on July 9 denied a motion by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to compel production of the notices, which are not generally discoverable, deeming it more appropriate for the commission to first depose an Amazon representative on the matter.
July 09, 2024
Class Seeks Rehearing After Settlement, Attorney Fees Vacated In GoDaddy TCPA Suit

ATLANTA — A class whose Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) settlement with GoDaddy.com LLC was vacated by the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in May filed a petition for panel rehearing seeking clarification for “the basis of its decision.”