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

Mealey's Cyber Tech & E-Commerce

March 04, 2025
Judge Dismisses Monopoly Claims Against Apple Over iCloud Storage

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted Apple Inc.’s motion to dismiss a putative class action in which consumers accuse it of monopolizing access to its iCloud data storage service on Apple devices in violation of federal and state antitrust laws and California’s unfair competition law (UCL), finding the plaintiffs did not sufficiently allege a violation of federal law, a monopoly or unfair conduct.
March 04, 2025
3rd Circuit Says Lower Court Didn’t Err In Dismissing Deepfake Suit By Cheer Mom

PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on March 3 affirmed in part a Pennsylvania federal court’s ruling dismissing a suit filed by a mother of a cheerleader alleging that the mother was wrongfully accused of creating deepfakes regarding her anonymous text messages to parents and gym owners accusing other cheerleaders of various offenses, resulting in public officials making alleged defamatory statements about her, finding that the lower court “did not err in dismissing” the mother’s complaint without prejudice.
March 04, 2025
High Court Won’t Hear Arguments From Google Accuser On Patent Infringement

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on March 3 rejected a petition for a writ of certiorari from a tech company that a partly split panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals erred in affirming a federal judge’s summary judgments against the company and in favor of Google LLC, which it accused of infringing on seven of its patents.
March 04, 2025
U.S. High Court Denies Petition In Police Officer’s Social Media, Suspension Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on March 3 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a police officer who raised tolling and grievance questions after a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled that the officer, in alleging that his suspension over Facebook posts constituted First Amendment violations under 42 U.S. Code Section 1983, failed to show that the clock on his claims was stalled while he challenged his suspension or that the applicable one-year prescriptive period was interrupted by two state court petitions.
March 04, 2025
COMMENTARY: Sustainability Recalibration: What Insurers And Policyholders Should Know About ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance Considerations) Under Trump 2.0, Part 1

By Scott M. Seaman
February 25, 2025
COMMENTARY: AI Risk: New Tech, Same Coverage

By Michael S. Levine, Alex D. Pappas and Torrye N. Zullo
March 03, 2025
New York Nonprofit Groups Sue USDA Over Climate Change Website Content ‘Purge’

FOLEY SQUARE, N.Y. — Several New York nonprofit organizations sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture over the “unlawful purge” of climate-related content from its websites, citing violations of the Paperwork Reduction, Administrative Procedure and Freedom of Information acts.
February 28, 2025
Magistrate Recommends Granting Judgment In Libel Row Over LinkedIn ‘Doo-Doo’ Post

NEW YORK — A New York federal magistrate judge recommended granting summary judgment to the defendant, a former officer in a company once owned by the plaintiff, a founder of a venture capital company, in a libel suit over the defendant’s posts on LinkedIn that purportedly gave the plaintiff the surname of “Doo-Doo head” and accused him of lack of knowledge about artificial intelligence, finding that the comment regarding AI “is non-actionable opinion.”
February 28, 2025
Judge Adopts Recommendation To Dismiss ‘Pig Butchering’ Complaint Against Binance

BOSTON — A Massachusetts federal judge adopted a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation to dismiss a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) suit against Binance Holdings Limited for its alleged role in a “pig butchering” “fraud scheme” that resulted in at least one of the plaintiffs losing more than $2.7 million in a cryptocurrency investment, finding in part that the plaintiffs failed to establish a “relationship between the stolen cryptocurrency and putative money laundering.”
February 28, 2025
Federal Circuit Affirms IPR Finding In Netflix’s Favor On Streaming Patent

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Feb. 27 rejected an appellant’s argument that the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) was wrong to rule in favor of Netflix Inc; according to the panel, there was no error in the board’s analysis of the claims in the appellant’s patent that led it to find that all challenged claims in the patent are invalid as obvious.
February 28, 2025
Record Labels Seek Rehearing In Copyright Row With Vimeo Before 2nd Circuit

NEW YORK — A group of record labels asked the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reconsider its finding that the labels failed to show that video sharing website Vimeo Inc. had “red flag” knowledge that user-uploaded videos contained copyrighted musical recordings, arguing in a petition for panel rehearing that the decision was in part undergirded by an erroneous reading of the labels’ argument.
February 26, 2025
Class Certification Denied In Moderator Suit Against TikTok For Lack Of Standing

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge denied a motion for class certification in a putative class action regarding the alleged negligence by TikTok Inc. and its parent company in failing to protect content moderators from harm, finding in part that the plaintiff, a former TikTok moderator, lacks standing for failure to provide evidence showing that “no monitor would remain in the job long enough to pursue a class action.”
February 25, 2025
Judge Partially Dismisses Claims In UCL Class Suit Over App Cyberbullying

LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge partially dismissed a putative class suit against YOLO, a company that designed an anonymous messaging app that allegedly failed to monitor content, purportedly resulting in cyberbullying and the death of one user, finding that the motion to dismiss for violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) is granted due to the plaintiffs’ failure to show that they have an inadequate remedy at law.
February 24, 2025
U.S. High Court Denies Rehearing To Broadband Providers In New York Rate Row

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 24 denied a petition for rehearing after its denial of a writ of certiorari filed by New York State Telecommunications Association and broadband providers.
February 21, 2025
Amended Complaint Filed Against OPM, Health Agencies, Over Removal Of Webpages

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Doctors for America and the city and county of San Francisco filed an amended complaint in a District of Columbia federal court accusing the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) of exceeding its authority in directing government health agencies, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to remove webpages containing “a broad range of health-related data” 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.”
February 20, 2025
Judge Tosses Sex Trafficking Case, Rejects Internet Traffic Monitoring Argument

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California federal judge dismissed with leave to amend a suit against franchisors and their parent company and franchisees, accusing them of sex trafficking under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), finding that though the plaintiff, the mother of a trafficking victim, alleged liability under the TVPRA due to the parent company’s ability to monitor motel guests internet access, the plaintiff did not establish that the parent company and the franchisors owed a duty of care to the victim.
February 20, 2025
9th Circuit Affirms Ruling Dismissing Sex Trafficking Suit Against Grindr

PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s ruling dismissing with prejudice a negligence, product liability and federal sex trafficking suit against Grindr Inc. and Grindr LLC, the operators of the Grindr app, alleging that they are liable for injuries the plaintiff sustained as an underaged user of the app, finding that the lower court correctly dismissed the claims as barred by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
February 19, 2025
Media Tech Insurer, Financial Services Firm Settle Data Breach Coverage Dispute

SEATTLE — A media tech insurer that filed suit and its financial services firm insured filed a notice in a Washington federal court indicating they have settled the insurer’s lawsuit seeking a declaration that it has no duty to defend or indemnify the insured for a bank’s indemnification demand for a data breach incident and a related subrogation lawsuit brought by the bank’s insurer.
February 14, 2025
Magistrate Sustains Some Deposition Objections In Social Media Addiction MDL

OAKLAND, Calif. — A California federal magistrate judge sustained some objections in a product liability multidistrict ligation over the purported addictive qualities for adolescents of several of the largest social media platforms, finding that certain deposition topics related to the “factual basis” for the plaintiff states’ beliefs “are contention deposition topics” and not appropriate for the MDL.
January 22, 2025
COMMENTARY: Relying On Loper Bright’s Elimination Of Chevron Deference, Sixth Circuit Reverses FCC And Holds That Internet Service Is An Information Service Under The Communications Act

By Alan Galloway, Hannah Donahue and John D. Seiver
February 13, 2025
Car Dealership Software Company Accuses Competitor Of Hacking Its Data

SAN FRANCISCO — A developer of auto dealership management system (DMS) software filed a complaint against its competition in California federal court for allegedly hacking its proprietary data to gain a competitive advantage in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL), while also moving to dismiss the competitor’s lawsuit in the same court accusing it of violating UCL and antitrust laws.
February 13, 2025
Judge Tosses Suit Against Digital Currency Company Over $1M In Lost Wallet Funds

BOSTON — A Massachusetts federal judge on Feb. 12 dismissed a Texas-based company’s suit seeking to replace $1 million of a digital asset that was mistakenly transferred to an inaccessible account, finding that the digital currency company “is not obligated to redeem” the missing currency due to the Texas company’s failure to plead conditions that would allow it to redeem the digital currency.
February 13, 2025
Suit Tossed For No Jurisdiction Absent Evidence Of Website Targeting Residents

JACKSON, Miss. — A Mississippi federal judge dismissed a breach of contract and bad faith suit against an international travel insurer and its purported agent over the insurer’s failure to reimburse medical expenses, finding that because the insured failed to provide evidence showing that the insurer’s website was designed to specifically target Mississippi residents, the court lacks personal jurisdiction over the insurer.
February 12, 2025
Federal Circuit Affirms Rejection Of Blockchain Patent Application

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Feb. 11 affirmed a U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) decision to reject a man’s patent application regarding blockchain technology, agreeing with the PTAB that his claims were indefinite and directed at unpatentable material.
July 22, 2024
Claims Trimmed From Remanded Crypto Wallet Data Breach Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — A cryptocurrency wallet firm and two of its business partners saw their motions to dismiss a suit over a 2020 data breach partly granted, as a California federal judge found some claims to be preempted by a forum selection clause and others to be insufficiently pleaded.