Articles Posted in Internet Law

A federal judge found that the social network had not provided adequate evidence to support its complaint of antitrust and other business violations by hosting provider Amazon Web Services.

This decision could guide many other courts across the U.S. in determining whether strict liability as a retailer or distributor should apply to online marketplaces like Amazon.

On Tuesday, October 13, 2020, the United States Supreme Court denied a petition for a writ of certiorari in Malwarebytes, Inc. v. Enigma Software Group USA, LLC. The high court appeal stems from a case wherein Malwarebytes used software to block its users from accessing products from its competitor, Enigma. The district court rejected Enigma's claim based on immunity provided by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The Ninth Circuit panel reversed the district court's ruling, stating that "[i]mmunity under that section does not extend to anticompetitive conduct." Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas penned a concurring opinion to the denial of certiorari, suggesting that a review of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act may be warranted in an appropriate case.

The Arizona Board of Regents is suing in federal court to shut down an Instagram account that uses ASU trademarks in spreading misinformation about the coronavirus.

On Monday, August 17, 2020, Children's Health Defense filed a lawsuit against Facebook, Inc. in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California. The lawsuit alleges that Facebook acted jointly or in concert with federal government agencies or actors to deny Children's Health Defense's First Amendment speech and Fifth Amendment property rights. At issue in the case is Facebook's use of fact-checking warning labels and Facebook's disabling of the fundraising feature on Children's Health Defense's Facebook page.

A consumer in New York alleges that LinkedIn violated consumer privacy by programming its apps on Apple devices to collect sensitive data.

The Court determined that internet companies can trademark the combination of a generic word and ".com" if the combination has acquired a secondary meaning.

The U.S. Congress plans to update the Digital Millennium Copyright Act later this year. A lengthy report produced by the U.S. Copyright Office suggests that this update may enhance protections for rights holders.

Deloitte Consulting LLP has been sued by a group of Ohio residents in two proposed class actions after their personal information was compromised on state websites the company built to administer coronavirus-related unemployment benefits. Officials in Ohio, Colorado, and Illinois announced that applicant information including home addresses and social security numbers had been exposed to the public on these sites. The lawsuits have been filed in federal court in New York, as well as state court in Ohio.

The COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports website is designed to show the extent to which people in various areas are reducing their normal activity to slow the spread of the virus.