As you know, I am not a fan of the EU’s DSA. Without First Amendment guardrails in the EU, the DSA represents a comprehensive government intrusion into the editorial processes of UGC services–with surely more intrusions to come. This will not end well.
One of the DSA’s standout features is that it imposes due process-like
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Court Says Twitter Misused Litigation to Punish Defendants for Their Speech–X v. CCDH
Self-proclaimed free-speech absolutist Elon Musk is notoriously thin-skinned when it comes to criticism directed at him. (As the phrase goes, “he can dish it out, but he can’t take it“). This well-publicized lawsuit is an example of Musk waging lawfare over a critic’s speech. Judge Breyer of the Northern District of California had…
Section 230 Applies to Claims Over Hijacked Accounts (Except Maybe Verified Accounts)–Wozniak v. YouTube
More Bitcoin litigation . This time, malefactors hijacked popular YouTube channels and uploaded videos promoting Bitcoin scams:
First, scammers will breach YouTube’s security to unlawfully gain access to verified and popular YouTube channels with tens or hundreds of thousands of subscribers. The scammers then transfer ownership or control of the channel to themselves or a…
Judge Hammers SEC for Lying to Get an Ex Parte TRO–SEC v. Digital Licensing
As I’ve recently mentioned, ex parte proceedings are error-prone because the judge hears only one side of the story and doesn’t get enough context to spot the possible flaws. This systematic–and avoidable–risk of errors has materially contributed to the SAD Scheme’s success. For example, rightsowners claim that defendants are international, even if they aren’t, and…
Buffalo’s Mass-Murder Leads to a Wrong Section 230 Decision–Jones v. Mean
You may recall the 2022 Buffalo mass-shooting, which was committed by a murderer responding to the “Great Replacement Theory.” (And yet, many people in the public eye keep referencing and evangelizing the theory despite its direct and repeated role in killing people). The victims sued social media companies for allegedly radicalizing the…
The Ninth Circuit’s Broad (and Wrong) Standards for Conversion–Taylor v. Google (Guest Blog Post)
by Kieran McCarthy
Recently, there has been a revival of anemic trespass to chattels claims in California. And so perhaps we should not be surprised that California courts have opened the door to a resurgence in anemic digital conversion claims, as well.
If Taylor v. Google is any indication, that door is now very much…
Tubi’s TOS Formation Fails–Campos v. Tubi
This is a Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) case against the video streaming platform Tubi. Tubi sought to send the case to arbitration per its TOS. The court says no.
The account signup page on mobile devices looked like this (Screen 1):
Note the unusual “skip” link in the upper right–what happens if users select…
Twitter Narrows, But Doesn’t Completely Avoid, a Dangerous Copyright Lawsuit–Concord Music v. X
Music publishers sued Twitter for users’ alleged copyright infringement. The court says that three aspects of the contributory copyright infringement claim survive Twitter’s motion to dismiss.
Direct Copyright Infringement. The publishers argued that Twitter “transmitted” their works. The court says the tweeter does any “transmitting,” not Twitter or the viewer. This diverges from the Aereo…
Fifth Circuit Once Again Disregards Supreme Court Precedent and Mangles Section 230–Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton
Texas passed a law (HB 1181) requiring pornographic websites to age-authenticate all users and then prevent minors from accessing online porn. If this sounds familiar, it’s because Congress passed functionally identical laws twice: the CDA in 1996 and the COPA in 1998. Both laws were struck down as unconstitutional. But to the Texas…
“Ringless Voicemail” Vendor Wins Section 230 Defense Against FTC–US v. Stratics Networks
[This is one of those opinions that is a slog to blog because the court’s statutory analysis made my head hurt. If this opinion confuses you, welcome to the club. FWIW, “Slog to Blog” would make a good band name.]
Stratics Networks offers ringless voicemail and VOIP services. The court explains that, with ringless voicemails,…