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Mealey's Cyber Tech & E-Commerce

  • March 03, 2026

    Judge Overrules Magistrate’s Report In Cryptocurrency ‘Pig Butchering Scam’ Suit

    MIAMI — A Florida federal judge on March 2 overruled a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation advising that the court deny the plaintiff’s motion for default judgment in a “pig butchering scam” suit over alleged stolen cryptocurrency assets, finding that the claims in the operative complaint “are supported by factual allegations.”

  • March 03, 2026

    9th Circuit Denies Quick Win To Roblox Players’ Parents On Arbitration Dispute

    SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a motion by the parents of minor players of Roblox Corp.’s gaming platform to summarily affirm a California federal judge’s denial of a motion to compel arbitration filed by the third-party developer of a site called “Bloxflip” that allegedly was used by the parents’ children to illegally gamble with digital “Robux” in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL).

  • March 03, 2026

    Delaware Judge: Social Media Litigation Does Not Trigger Insurers’ Duty To Defend

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware judge granted primary insurers’ motion for partial summary judgment in their declaratory judgment lawsuit brought against Instagram LLC and Meta Platforms Inc. (collectively, Meta), ruling that the insurers have no duty to defend against several thousand lawsuits alleging that Meta’s platforms caused harm to children because none of the underlying allegations “whether express, inferable, or extrinsic—support a conclusion that Meta’s conduct was accidental.”

  • March 03, 2026

    Judge: Ransomware Sublimit Does Not Limit Insurer’s Liability For Malware Attack

    DALLAS — Noting that the court has not located any case law interpreting a ransomware sublimit endorsement or any similar policy provision, a federal judge in Texas held that a cyber liability insurance policy’s $250,000 Ransomware Sub-Limit Endorsement is not applicable on its face to the policy’s cyber extortion insurance and, as a result, the insurer’s liability is not limited as to the insured’s claim for $1.2 million in losses arising from a malware attack.

  • March 02, 2026

    Judge: Va. Social Media Monitoring Law Places ‘Burdens On Protected Speech’

    ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Finding that the age verification provision of Senate Bill 854, a Virginia law that seeks to require social media platforms to determine whether a user is a minor, “burdens adults’-as well as minors’-rights to access protected speech,” a Virginia federal judge on Feb. 27 issued a preliminary injunction enjoining enforcement of the law internet trade association NetChoice LLC challenged for allegedly violating the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

  • March 02, 2026

    Most Claims Tossed In Defamation Suit Over Podcast Comments, ‘Privacy’ Violations

    ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A Virginia federal judge largely dismissed a doctor’s suit against her former employer, the CIA, its director and a former Republican political candidate for due process violations and defamation related to the candidate’s comments about the doctor on a podcast regarding the military COVID-19 vaccine mandate, finding that the due process claim failed in part because the allegedly defamatory statements were not made by government employees.

  • March 02, 2026

    Class Complaint: Insurer Sold Out Customer And Website Users’ Trust For Money

    CHICAGO — A class complaint was filed in an Illinois federal court alleging that an insurer committed an egregious privacy violation and breach of consumer trust in violation of Illinois, California and federal laws by knowingly deploying tracking technologies without the consent of its insurance customers and other website visitors and in violation of its own express assurances that the customers’ private information would remain confidential, asserting that the insurer sold out its customers and website users’ trust for money.

  • February 27, 2026

    Judge Dismisses xAI’s Employee Poaching, Trade Secrets Claims Against OpenAI

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted OpenAI Inc.’s motion to dismiss an amended complaint in which xAI accused competitor OpenAI of violating the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) and California’s unfair competition law (UCL), writing that xAI’s allegations relate to the conduct of eight former employees who left for OpenAI but not “any misconduct by OpenAI.”

  • February 27, 2026

    S.C. Governor’s Bid To Intervene Granted In NetChoice Social Media Law Challenge

    COLUMBIA, S.C. — In a docket-only order, a South Carolina federal judge granted South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster’s motion to intervene in internet trade association NetChoice’s suit alleging that a state social media monitoring law regarding minors violates the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, finding that the governor satisfied the standards required for intervention, including the standard regarding his ability to protect his interests absent intervention.

  • February 26, 2026

    Magistrate Tosses Broadband Association Suit Over California Regulatory Control

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal magistrate judge dismissed a declaratory judgment suit brought by a broadband providers trade association challenging the California Public Utilities Commission decision adopting regulations for Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers, finding that the association failed to rebut the presumption against preemption of California’s ability to regulate intrastate services.

  • February 26, 2026

    Split Federal Circuit Affirms PTAB Rejection Of Tesla’s Challenge To EV Patent

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A split Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said in a Feb. 25 opinion that it agreed with the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that Tesla Inc. failed to show that certain claims in another company’s patent on a system of charging electric vehicles were unpatentable as obvious.

  • February 25, 2026

    Federal Circuit Finds Another AI Patent Directed At Abstract Concepts

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a New York federal judge’s decision to grant summary judgment in favor of Amazon.com Inc. on claims brought by a technology company that accused Amazon of infringing its patent on a type of machine learning; the panel agreed in its Feb. 24 opinion that the plaintiff-appellant’s patent claims were ineligible as abstract.

  • February 25, 2026

    Judge Grants Meta’s Bid To File Amended Answer In Facial Recognition Software Suit

    EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — An Illinois federal judge granted a motion by Meta Platforms Inc. seeking leave to file a second amended answer and defenses in a putative class action suit alleging violations of a state privacy law regarding Meta’s collecting biometric information using facial recognition software through its Facebook messenger and messenger kids applications, finding in part that Meta used due diligence in researching its defenses.

  • February 20, 2026

    Verizon, AT&T Tell High Court That FCC Forfeiture ‘Scheme’ Violates 7th Amendment

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In consolidated cases before the U.S. Supreme Court asserting constitutional challenges to the Federal Communications Commission’s enforcement of  monetary forfeitures under the Communications Act, Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc. argue that “[t]he FCC’s in-house forfeiture scheme violates the Seventh Amendment and Article III” of the U.S. Constitution when “used to adjudicate legal disputes.”

  • February 20, 2026

    Judge Continues Bellwether ‘Addiction’ Trial Against Meta, Social Media Platforms

    LOS ANGELES — A California state court judge issued a minute order continuing a bellwether jury trial against Meta Platforms Inc. and related entities and other social media companies including TikTok Ltd., Google LLC and YouTube LLC, alleging that the defendants “had a duty to disclose dangerous and defective features that cause foreseeable harm to children and teens” and should have known about the risks of “addiction.”

  • February 20, 2026

    23andMe Data Breach MDL Dismissed After Settlements Approved In Bankruptcy Court

    The California federal judge overseeing multidistrict litigation against 23andMe Inc. and affiliates for a data breach in which millions of customers’ genetic data and personally identifiable information (PII) was hacked entered an order dismissing the MDL, following the final approval in Missouri federal bankruptcy court of a settlement worth up to $50 million to resolve U.S. customers’ claims against 23andMe and the final approval of a  $3.25 million settlement for Canadian class members.

  • February 19, 2026

    11th Circuit Affirms Sanctions Denial In Flight Attendant Internet Defamation Suit

    ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s ruling denying sanctions against a flight attendant and her attorney in her suit accusing a coworker of defamation by posting statements on the internet regarding the flight attendant’s alleged participation in the events at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, finding that the lower court was not required to issue sanctions in the case.

  • February 19, 2026

    StubHub Largely Granted Summary Judgment In Consumers’ Pandemic Cancellation Case

    OAKLAND, Calif. — A federal judge in California granted StubHub Inc.’s summary judgment motion as to the three remaining California law claims brought by a putative class of consumers seeking injunctive relief or restitution related to the company’s refund policy changes implemented for events canceled or rescheduled due to the coronavirus pandemic; the judge deferred ruling on claims in the multidistrict litigation seeking monetary damages to allow the parties to file briefs about why the claims should or shouldn’t be compelled to arbitration.

  • February 19, 2026

    2nd Circuit Rejects Objections To New York Times Auto-Renewal Settlement

    NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a trial court’s approval of a $2,375,000 settlement to be paid by The New York Times Co. to end a class complaint accusing the newspaper publisher of engaging in an illegal “automatic renewal” scheme over objections by a California attorney who has both litigated class actions and participated in a number of class actions as an objector.

  • February 17, 2026

    Delaware High Court: Insurers Properly Pleaded Claim In Suit Over Ransomware Attack

    DOVER, Del. — The Delaware Supreme Court held Feb. 13 that insurers have adequately pleaded a breach of contract claim in their subrogation lawsuit seeking recovery from an application service provider for the amount they paid to nonprofit insureds for investigative and remediation steps arising from a ransomware attack, reversing a lower court’s grant of the provider’s motion to dismiss the insurers’ amended complaint and remanding.

  • February 13, 2026

    3rd Circuit Affirms Ruling Dismissing Constitutional Challenge To N.J. 3D Gun Law

    PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 12 affirmed a lower court’s ruling dismissing a suit filed by a publisher of 3D gun printing files and a gun rights advocacy group challenging New Jersey’s law prohibiting the distribution of those files to state residents who are not licensed gun manufacturers, finding in part that the publisher and advocacy group lack standing absent allegations that they were prevented from making “a 3D printed firearm” and that the complaint was deficient in alleging harm.

  • February 13, 2026

    Judge Grants Alternative Service Motion In Star Trek E-Commerce Trademark Dispute

    MIAMI — A Florida federal judge on Feb. 12 granted CBS’s motion for alternative service of process in a trademark infringement suit against an alleged Singapore-based e-commerce retailer accused of infringement regarding Star Trek intellectual property rights, finding that alternative service through email and website posting will reasonably provide the retailer an opportunity to respond to the suit.

  • February 13, 2026

    11th Circuit Affirms Judgment For Lyft In Negligence Suit Over Shooting By Driver

    ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s grant of summary judgment for rideshare platform Lyft in a passenger’s suit alleging negligence per se after he incurred permanent injuries when a Lyft driver shot him, finding that “there was no dispute that Lyft complied with the Georgia for-hire rideshare provision” regarding background checks.

  • February 10, 2026

    1st Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Negligence Suit Against Gun Marketplace Company

    BOSTON — The First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed in part a New Hampshire federal court’s ruling dismissing for lack of personal jurisdiction a former police officer and his wife’s negligence suit against a company that operates an online marketplace for firearms, finding “no basis for disturbing the District Court's purposeful-availment ruling insofar as it does not relate to” additional evidence provided by the couple.

  • February 09, 2026

    Magistrate Grants Stipulation In Meta Social Media Addiction Discovery Dispute

    OAKLAND, Calif. — After parties filed a joint stipulation regarding discovery documents, a California federal magistrate judge issued an order granting the stipulation, which established that documents Meta Platforms Inc. agreed to produce constitute all documents currently at issue in a product liability multidistrict litigation over the purported addictive qualities for adolescents of several of the largest social media platforms.