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Mealey's Cyber Tech & E-Commerce

  • July 15, 2025

    After Settlement Notice, Judge Moots Motions In Web-Based Retailers Trademark Row

    DENVER — After a fencing company and the web-based retailers it sued over alleged trademark infringement notified the court that the parties entered into a settlement agreement, a Colorado federal judge on July 14 issued a docket-only order denying as moot motions to dismiss and for an extension of time related to discovery.

  • July 15, 2025

    Judge Tosses ISP Suit Seeking To Enforce Foreign Arbitration Award Exceeding $16M

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge on July 14 dismissed with prejudice a suit brought by a now-bankrupt Indonesian-based internet service provider (ISP) seeking to enforce an Indonesian arbitrator’s award of the equivalent of $16,948,937.28 for contracts to provide internet service in Indonesia, finding that the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction and that amendment would be futile.

  • July 14, 2025

    Judge Dismisses Suit Against Meta That Alleged Failure To Stop Murder Livestream

    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A New Mexico federal judge dismissed without prejudice a breach of contract suit filed against Meta Platforms Inc. (formerly Facebook Inc.) by the mother of a woman who was shot and killed by her boyfriend, who livestreamed the shooting on Facebook, finding that the plaintiff failed to show that the court has specific jurisdiction over the suit.

  • July 11, 2025

    Judge Issues ‘Admonition’ To Amazon Regarding Privilege Log In FTC Suit Over Prime

    SEATTLE — A Washington federal judge on July 10 issued an “admonition” in response to the Federal Trade Commission’s motion seeking sanctions against Amazon.com Inc. for Amazon’s alleged use of its privilege log to hide evidence in a suit accusing Amazon and its officers of tricking customers into enrolling in the Amazon Prime service.

  • July 11, 2025

    Caltech Cybersecurity Bootcamp Class Plaintiff Urges Approval Of $400K Settlement

    SAN FRANCISCO — A woman who enrolled in an online education program called the “Caltech Cybersecurity Bootcamp” and filed a putative class action suit alleging that the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and its partner, Simplilearn Americas Inc., deceptively marketed the bootcamp filed a brief in California state court urging the court to certify a settlement class and preliminarily approve a $400,000 settlement to be distributed among the participating class members.

  • July 10, 2025

    Judge Denies Online Retailer’s Dismissal Bid In ADA Compliance Class Dispute

    BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A New York federal judge on July 9 denied a motion to dismiss filed by an online retailer of children’s clothing in a putative class action suit alleging that the retailer failed to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) to maintain a website compatible with screen access programs, finding that the allegations in the complaint assert a claim under the ADA and under city law.

  • July 10, 2025

    Forum Selection Clause Issue Certified For Appeal In Crypto Wallet Data Breach Row

    SAN FRANCISCO — Declining to grant partial final judgment as to dismissed claims and defendants in a putative class action over a crypto-asset wallet firm’s 2020 data breach, a California federal judge, instead, granted interlocutory appeal on the issue of whether subcontractors of the wallet maker can avail themselves of a forum selection clause in the lead defendant’s terms of service (TOS).

  • July 09, 2025

    Split 9th Circuit Vacates Dismissal Of Journalists’ Pegasus Spyware Suit

    SAN FRANCISCO — A split Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on July 8 vacated and remanded a lower court order dismissing a suit alleging that Israeli-based NSO Group Technologies Limited and Q Cyber Technologies Limited used their software product, Pegasus, to hack into journalists’ smartphones, finding that the lower court abused its discretion in dismissing the suit on forum non conveniens grounds.

  • July 09, 2025

    Epic Dismisses Antitrust Claims, Says It Settled With Samsung In App Blocking Suit

    SAN FRANCISCO — Epic Games Inc., the developer of the popular video game Fortnite, filed a notice stating that it settled claims against Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Samsung Electronics America Inc. (collectively, Samsung) in a suit alleging antitrust law and California unfair competition law (UCL) violations against Samsung and Google LLC related to their alleged cooperation to reduce competition in the app distribution market by agreeing to Samsung’s use of the “auto blocker” default settings on its new phones that would block all user attempts to download and install Android apps from any source competing with the Google Play Store and the Samsung Galaxy Store.

  • July 08, 2025

    OPM Memo, HHS Guidance Vacated In Webpage Removal Row Over ‘Gender Ideology’ Order

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a suit accusing the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) of exceeding its authority, a District of Columbia federal judge vacated an OPM memo and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) guidance directing removal of health-related webpages in response to President Donald J. Trump’s executive order titled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” finding that the OPM and HHS “acted contrary to law.”

  • July 03, 2025

    Trump Issues 3rd Order, Again Pausing Enforcement Of Act Banning TikTok

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald J. Trump issued a third executive order pausing enforcement of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act as to TikTok until Sept. 17, requiring the Department of Justice not to enforce the act, which would have resulted in a ban on the popular social network absent a corporate ownership change.

  • July 02, 2025

    Jury Awards Over $314M In Class Suit Against Google Over Data ‘Misappropriation’

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California state court jury on July 1 awarded $314,626,932 to plaintiffs in a class action against Google LLC alleging that it misappropriated their cellular data allowances via passive transfers of information between Google and their mobile devices.

  • July 01, 2025

    Petition Denied In Employee Speech Case; Justice Raises Concerns About Approach

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 30 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari seeking consideration of a question concerning a high school teacher’s social media posts and whether they were preemployment speech; Justice Clarence Thomas agreed with the denial but filed a statement “to raise serious concerns about the First Circuit’s approach,” calling the appellate panel’s analysis under the framework of Pickering v. Board of Education of Township High School District 205, Will Cty. and Garcetti v. Ceballos “deeply flawed.”

  • July 01, 2025

    Consumers Oppose Live Nation, Ticketmaster’s High Court Petition On FAA Reach

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision affirming a trial court’s denial of arbitration in a putative class complaint accusing Live Nation Entertainment Inc. and Ticketmaster LLC of engaging in anticompetitive practices in online ticket sales does not create a circuit split or warrant review, consumers tell the U.S. Supreme Court in a respondent brief opposing the two companies’ petition for a writ of certiorari.

  • June 30, 2025

    Amicus Tells High Court California Bar On Arbitration Must Not ‘Fester’ Longer

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A retail industry association on June 27 filed an amicus curiae brief to the U.S. Supreme Court supporting a cryptocurrency exchange’s petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of a California state court ruling barring enforcement of its arbitration agreement with customers, arguing that the state court undermined federal law by treating claims for public injunctive relief under California state law as inarbitrable.

  • June 30, 2025

    High Court Won’t Review RFK Jr.-Founded Group ‘Censored’ Speech Challenge

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 30 denied a petition for writ of certiorari filed by the Children’s Health Defense (CHD), a nonprofit founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., seeking review of a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling affirming a district court’s dismissal of a suit alleging that Meta Platforms Inc. (formerly Facebook Inc.) violated the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by censoring what CHD says are accurate posts challenging the government’s “orthodoxy” as to the safety of vaccines.

  • June 30, 2025

    High Court To Consider ISPs’ Liability For Users’ Infringement

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 30 granted a petition for a writ of certiorari from an internet service provider (ISP) that told the court that the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals was wrong to find it liable for contributory infringement for the actions of internet users who infringed on copyrights held by a group of record labels and music publishers; the high court also denied the labels’ cross-petition challenging the Fourth Circuit’s decision to vacate a $1 billion award in their favor for vicarious infringement.

  • June 27, 2025

    High Court Finds Texas Porn Law Age Requirement Doesn’t Violate Free Speech

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 27 in a 6-3 ruling held that a Texas law requiring the operators of pornographic websites to verify that their visitors are adults does not violate the free speech clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

  • June 27, 2025

    Nondelegation Doctrine Not Violated By FCC Funding Scheme, Supreme Court Says

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 27 ruled 6-3 that a Federal Communications Commission subsidy program does not violate the doctrines of nondelegation or  “private nondelegation,” finding that the FCC’s delegations were properly guided by an “intelligible principle” set forth by Congress and reversing the en banc Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

  • June 26, 2025

    High Court Won’t Review 9th Circuit Affirmance Of Dismissal Of Suit Against Meta

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for writ of certiorari filed by a man seeking review of a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling affirming dismissal of his complaint and claims that Facebook Inc. (now Meta Platforms Inc.) destroyed his social network pages and his related business income by removing posts that purportedly violated its community standards.

  • June 25, 2025

    Widower Can Replace Dead Wife In Google Gift Card Scam Suit, Judge Says

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California federal judge granted a dead plaintiff’s widower’s motion for leave to substitute himself as plaintiff, add new plaintiffs and amend the dead wife’s putative class action against Google LLC and affiliates for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by failing to protect customers from Google Play gift card scammers.

  • June 25, 2025

    2nd Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of NFL Videos VPPA Class Lawsuit

    NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court’s dismissal of a putative class complaint accusing the National Football League (NFL) of violating the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) by sharing personal data about users of the NFL’s website, mobile application and video service with a third party, citing Solomon v. Flipps Media, Inc. as “‘binding and dispositive.’”

  • June 23, 2025

    Judge Denies D&O, Cyber Liability Insurer’s Motion To Dismiss $2.8M Coverage Suit

    OMAHA, Neb. — A federal judge in Nebraska on June 20 denied a directors and officers and cyber liability insurer’s motion to dismiss two private equity firms’ amended complaint seeking coverage for the $2.83 million they lost when an imposter investor hacked a reserve account, finding that the policy’s definition of “loss” is ambiguous.

  • June 20, 2025

    Tenn. Federal Judge Denies Bid To Stop Enforcement Of Social Media Monitoring Law

    NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee federal judge denied a motion by internet trade association NetChoice seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent the enforcement against its members’ websites of a Tennessee law requiring, among other things, age verification requirements on certain social media platforms, finding that NetChoice has failed to show the need for the injunctive relief requested.

  • June 19, 2025

    Judge Grants Injunction To NetChoice In Dispute Over Social Media Moderation Law

    JACKSON, Miss.  —  A Mississippi federal judge on June 18 granted a preliminary injunction to internet trade association NetChoice LLC as to eight of its members, including Meta Platforms Inc., to stop the enforcement of certain provisions of a Mississippi statute that would regulate minors’ access to certain internet platforms by requiring parental consent, finding that NetChoice has shown a likelihood of success in its First Amendment challenge to the law.