On May 1, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a putative class action alleging violations of the Illinois Genetic Information Privacy Act (GIPA) against the asset management firm...more
In a much-anticipated ruling this week addressing the confluence of website scraping and computer hacking law, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit became the latest federal court to limit the reach of the Computer...more
4/22/2022
/ Appeals ,
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Data Collection ,
Databases ,
Injunctive Relief ,
LinkedIn ,
Terms and Conditions ,
Unauthorized Access ,
Unfair Competition ,
Van Buren v United States ,
Web Scraping ,
Website Owner Liability
The Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA) was a landmark law enacted to regulate content on the internet. The purpose of the legislation was to regulate indecent and obscene material online, but it is most relevant today...more
5/28/2021
/ Appeals ,
Communications Decency Act ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Internet ,
Liability ,
Online Platforms ,
PACT Act ,
SAFE Act ,
Section 230 ,
Social Media ,
Third-Party
In This Issue -
Section 230 and the Future of Content Moderation -
We analyze Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act—the 1996 law that provides a legal shield for internet providers from content created by their...more
5/26/2021
/ Appeals ,
Communications Decency Act ,
Copyright ,
DMCA ,
Fair Use ,
FOSTA ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Online Platforms ,
Oracle v Google ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 101 ,
Section 230 ,
Software Developers ,
The Copyright Act ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks ,
Uniform Trade Secrets Acts
In a ruling that affirms the immunity of user-generated content platforms from suit for removing content from their sites, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit unanimously held that Section 230 of the...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit added its voice to the chorus of circuit courts of appeal that have held that alleged procedural violations of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), such as the...more
3/14/2019
/ Appeals ,
Article III ,
Debit and Credit Card Transactions ,
Dismissals ,
FACTA ,
Identity Theft ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
J Crew ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Retailers ,
Standing ,
Statutory Violations
In a highly anticipated ruling, the Illinois Supreme Court on January 25, 2019, held that plaintiffs who violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act — which regulates the collection of biometric information such...more
1/30/2019
/ Actual Injuries ,
Amusement Parks ,
Appeals ,
Article III ,
Biometric Information ,
Biometric Information Privacy Act ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Fingerprints ,
IL Supreme Court ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Liquidated Damages ,
Parental Consent ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Private Right of Action ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Standing ,
Statutory Violations
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court held unanimously that when an arbitration delegates gateway issues of arbitrability to the arbitator to decide, a court may not consider questions of arbitrability, even where the party...more
1/15/2019
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Arbitrators ,
Contract Terms ,
Exceptions ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Henry Schein Inc v Archer and White Sales Inc ,
Judicial Review ,
Motion to Compel ,
Question of Arbitrability ,
Remand ,
SCOTUS ,
Vacated ,
Wholly Groundless Doctrine
In a ruling that increases liability for companies that use text messaging for marketing or communicating with customers, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit adopted an expansive definition of what constitutes an...more
9/28/2018
/ Appeals ,
ATDS ,
Auto-Dialed Calls ,
FCC ,
Reversal ,
Smartphones ,
Split of Authority ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Summary Judgment ,
TCPA ,
Telecommunications ,
Telemarketing ,
Text Messages
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held on July 13 that procedural violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act without actual harm were insufficient to confer Article III standing. The court found in Dutta v....more
7/26/2018
/ Appeals ,
Article III ,
Background Checks ,
Banking Sector ,
Class Action ,
Credit Reports ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Job Applicants ,
Standing ,
Summary Judgment
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has found that plaintiffs must show a causal connection between the theft of their personal information and the purported harm that they have suffered in order to survive a...more
7/13/2018
/ Appeals ,
Breach of Contract ,
Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Security ,
Discovery ,
Dismissals ,
Economic Loss Doctrine ,
Former Employee ,
Fraudulent Charges ,
Hackers ,
Motion for Summary Judgment ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Property Theft ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Unjust Enrichment
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on June 6 issued its long-awaited decision in LabMD v. Federal Trade Commission, vacating a Federal Trade Commission cease and desist order directing LabMD to overhaul its...more
7/5/2018
/ Appeals ,
Cease and Desist Orders ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
LabMD ,
Popular ,
Reversal ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has found that allegations that fraudsters used the personal information of data breach victims are sufficient to establish standing even without any fraudulent charges...more
6/27/2018
/ Appeals ,
Article III ,
Class Action ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Debit and Credit Card Transactions ,
Fraudulent Charges ,
Identity Theft ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Negligence ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Pleading Standards ,
Popular ,
Remand ,
Standing ,
Subject Matter Jurisdiction ,
Vacated
In keeping with its recent decision in Bassett v. ABM Parking Services, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held in Noble v. Nevada Checker Cab (March 9, 2018) that alleged procedural violations of the Fair and...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act conviction of an IT worker who sabotaged his employer’s network, rejecting the argument that an IT worker’s authorized access to...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held in Eichenberger v. ESPN that allegations that the Video Privacy Protection Act was violated are sufficient to establish Article III standing, but that the definition of...more
12/7/2017
/ Appeals ,
Article III ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Data Collection ,
ESPN ,
Internet ,
Internet Streaming ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Roku ,
Standing ,
Television Programming ,
VPPA
In a case with free speech implications, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on November 8, 2017, affirmed the denial of Glassdoor, Inc.’s motion to quash a grand jury subpoena for the identities of the Glassdoor...more
11/22/2017
/ Appeals ,
Bad Faith ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Federal Contractors ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Government Investigations ,
Grand Juries ,
Internet ,
Motion to Compel ,
Motions to Quash ,
Online Platforms ,
Online Reviews ,
Popular ,
Subpoenas ,
User-Generated Content
A Smooth Patch in a Rough Road? Governmental Transition and Intellectual Property -
Whenever a new Congress convenes, some IP issues come to the fore while others take a back seat. Transition to a new administration in the...more
2/10/2017
/ Administrative Appointments ,
America Invents Act ,
Appeals ,
Article III ,
Barack Obama ,
Cheerleaders ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Office ,
Data Breach ,
Denial of Certiorari ,
Disparagement ,
DMCA ,
Exclusive Licenses ,
Fashion Design ,
FDCPA ,
File Sharing ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Google ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ,
IP License ,
Lanham Act ,
Lee v Tam ,
Lenz v Universal Music Corp. ,
Misappropriation ,
Non-Appealable Decisions ,
Non-Practicing Entities ,
Online Videos ,
Oracle ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Popular ,
Privacy Laws ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 337 ,
Software Developers ,
Spokeo v Robins ,
Standing ,
Star Athletica v Varsity Brands ,
Takedown Notices ,
Tariff Act of 1930 ,
Trade Secrets ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
Trans-Pacific Partnership ,
Trump Administration ,
Uniforms ,
USPTO ,
YouTube
This week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that allegations that unsolicited advertisement text messages were sent in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) established a concrete...more
2/3/2017
/ Actual Injuries ,
Advertising ,
Appeals ,
Article III ,
Corporate Counsel ,
False Advertising ,
Prior Express Consent ,
Standing ,
TCPA ,
Telemarketing ,
Unfair Competition ,
Unsolicited Phone Calls
Last week, the Third Circuit held that allegations of the unauthorized disclosure of personal information in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) constituted a de facto injury sufficient to confer standing at the...more
1/25/2017
/ Appeals ,
Article III ,
Blue Cross ,
Blue Shield ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Reporting Agencies ,
Cookies ,
Data Breach ,
De Facto Injury ,
Dismissals ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Health Insurance ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Pleadings ,
Reversal ,
Standing ,
Statutory Rights ,
Unauthorized Disclosure ,
Web Browsers
This week, in Meyers v. Nicolet Rest. of de Pere, LLC, No. 16-2075 (7th Cir. Dec. 13, 2016), the Seventh Circuit narrowed standing to bring lawsuits under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) in holding that...more
12/19/2016
/ Actual Injuries ,
Appeals ,
Article III ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Credit Cards ,
FACTA ,
Predominance Requirement ,
Privacy Laws ,
Standing ,
Statutory Violations
Earlier this month, the Eighth Circuit expanded standing to bring privacy policy violations claims but limited the definition of personal information in affirming the dismissal of a class action complaint in Carlsen v....more
8/29/2016
/ Appeals ,
Article III ,
Breach of Contract ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dismissals ,
Facebook ,
Failure To State A Claim ,
Information Sharing ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Online Magazines ,
Personal Data ,
Privacy Policy ,
Standing ,
Terms of Service ,
Unjust Enrichment