This past summer, we wrote about two instances in which courts refused to enforce website terms presented in browsewrap agreements. As we noted, clickthrough agreements are generally more likely to be found to be enforced. ...more
11/22/2016
/ AirBnB ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Browsewrap Agreement ,
Clickwrap Agreements ,
Consumer Contracts ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Discrimination ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Mobile Apps ,
Mobile Devices ,
Motion to Compel ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Sharing Economy ,
Technology ,
Terms of Service ,
Unenforceable Contract Terms ,
Vacation Rentals ,
Website Design ,
Websites ,
Young Lawyers
Title V of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, also known as the “Communications Decency Act of 1996” or “CDA” was signed into law in Feburary 1996. The goal of the CDA was to control the exposure of minors to indecent...more
9/9/2016
/ Communications Decency Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Minors ,
Online Platforms ,
Online Safety for Children ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Snapchat ,
Social Media ,
Social Networks ,
Telecommunications ,
Telecommunications Act ,
Terms of Service ,
Websites
In Yershov v. Gannett Satellite Information Network, Inc., a user of the free USA Today app alleged that each time he viewed a video clip, the app transmitted his mobile Android ID, GPS coordinates and identification of the...more
9/8/2016
/ Article III ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Data Collection ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Mobile Apps ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Spokeo v Robins ,
Standing ,
Subject Matter Jurisdiction ,
Third-Party ,
VPPA
In Nghiem v Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc., No. 16-00097 (C.D. Cal. July 5, 2016), the Central District of California held browsewrap terms to be unenforceable because the hyperlink to the terms was “sandwiched” between two...more
7/29/2016
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Browsewrap Agreement ,
Class Action ,
Clickwrap Agreements ,
Consumer Contracts ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Motion to Compel ,
TCPA ,
Terms of Use ,
Unenforceable Contract Terms ,
Website Design ,
Websites ,
Young Lawyers
This past week, the Ninth Circuit released two important decisions that clarify the scope of liability under the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), 18 U.S.C. § 1030. The Act was originally designed to target...more
7/15/2016
/ Cease and Desist ,
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Economic Espionage Act ,
Facebook ,
Former Employee ,
Passwords ,
Popular ,
Summary Judgment ,
Terms of Use ,
Trade Secrets ,
Unauthorized Access ,
US v Nosal ,
Web Scraping ,
Young Lawyers
Another court has contributed to the ongoing debate over the scope of the term “personally identifiable information” under the Video Privacy Protection Act – a statute enacted in 1988 to protect the privacy of consumers’...more
7/1/2016
/ Cookies ,
COPPA ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Data-Sharing ,
Google ,
Invasion of Privacy ,
IP Addresses ,
Nickelodeon ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Third-Party ,
Unique Device Identifiers ,
Viacom ,
VPPA ,
Young Lawyers
Title II of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) offers safe harbors for qualifying service providers to limit their liability for claims of copyright infringement. To benefit from the Section 512(c) safe harbor, a...more
The District Court for the Northern District of California recently issued what could be a very significant decision on a number of important digital law issues. These include: the enforceability of “clickwrap” as compared...more
5/10/2016
/ Biometric Information ,
Biometric Information Privacy Act ,
Choice-of-Law ,
Clickwrap Agreements ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Data Collection ,
Enforceability ,
Facebook ,
Facial Recognition Technology ,
Shutterfly ,
Terms of Use
This past week, the First Circuit issued a notable opinion concerning the contours of liability under the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) – a decision that stirs up further uncertainty as to where to draw the line...more
A New York district court opinion is the latest addition to our watch of ongoing VPPA-related disputes, a notable decision on the issue of what exactly is a disclosure of “personally identifiable information” (PII) under the...more
10/28/2015
/ Analytics ,
Anonymization ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Disclosure ,
Disney ,
Internet Streaming ,
Mobile Devices ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Popular ,
Roku ,
Third-Party ,
Video Privacy ,
VPPA ,
Young Lawyers
This week, a major self-regulatory initiative intended to address privacy concerns associated with facial recognition technology hit a significant stumbling block. Nine consumer advocacy groups withdrew from the National...more
6/24/2015
/ Biometric Information ,
Clickwrap Agreements ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Facebook ,
Facial Recognition Technology ,
Fair Use ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Informed Consent ,
NTIA ,
Opt-Outs ,
Popular ,
Prior Express Consent ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Privacy Disclosures ,
Privacy Policy ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Self-Regulatory Organizations ,
Social Media ,
Transparency ,
Young Lawyers
We have had a number of clients run into issues relating to whether or not an email exchange constituted a binding contract. This issue comes up regularly when informality creeps into negotiations conducted electronically,...more
6/10/2015
/ Commercial Contracts ,
Contract Formation ,
Contract Negotiations ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disclaimers ,
E-Signatures ,
Electronic Agreements ,
Email ,
Enforceability ,
Intent ,
Proof of Intent ,
UETA ,
Young Lawyers
Readers of this blog will know that we have been following the recent legal developments relating to bitcoin and other virtually currency systems. Yesterday, in a significant development reflecting the general maturation of...more
The DMCA was enacted in 1998 to preserve “strong incentives for service providers and copyright owners to cooperate to detect and deal with copyright infringements that take place in a digital networked environment.” As part...more
In a novel lawsuit that tests the bounds of service provider liability, two music publishers brought suit against an ISP for contributory copyright infringement for allegedly facilitating infringement by failing to terminate...more
It’s no secret that local directory/consumer review websites are popular among consumers looking for recommendations before dining out, hiring a contractor, or even picking a dentist or day spa. Yelp reported around 138...more