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

Mealey's Cyber Tech & E-Commerce

September 12, 2025
Sanctions Ordered In Text Message Employment Dispute As To ‘Incredible’ Testimony

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — A New York federal magistrate judge granted in part a motion for sanctions regarding failure to preserve electronically stored information in a suit filed by a woman against her former supervisor, former employer and its parent company alleging retaliation pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, finding “highly incredible” the testimony of two individuals who deleted text messages and purportedly failed to “take reasonable steps to preserve evidence.”
September 12, 2025
2nd Circuit: Labels Waived Inducement Argument, But Opinion Slightly Amended

NEW YORK — A Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel partly granted a group of record labels’ petition 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, agreeing to remove a footnote musing on whether the labels had preserved for U.S. Supreme Court review arguments that Vimeo could not be entitled to the safe harbor defined in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
September 11, 2025
2nd Circuit Won’t Review FCC Forfeiture Order, $46.9M Penalty Against Verizon

NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 10 denied a petition filed by Verizon Communications Inc. seeking review of a Federal Communications Commission forfeiture order imposing a $46.9 million penalty for violating the Communications Act and related regulations regarding Verizon’s alleged failure to safeguard certain customer proprietary network information, finding that the data is protected under statute, that the finding of liability was reasonable and that the forfeiture order does not violate Verizon’s constitutional rights or the applicable statute.
September 10, 2025
Judgment Granted For Wireless Companies In Cell Tower Dispute With Idaho County

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — An Idaho federal judge granted summary judgment to wireless companies in their dispute with an Idaho county government that denied their application to construct and operate a 150-foot wireless communication tower in the county, finding “no genuine question of material fact that the County’s denial of the Wireless Companies’ application violated the Telecommunications Act.”
September 10, 2025
9th Circuit Mostly Affirms Ruling Denying California Social Media Law Injunction

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 9 mostly affirmed a lower court ruling denying a preliminary injunction by NetChoice LLC, a nationwide trade association for internet companies, to prevent the enforcement of a California law requiring parental consent for minors to access personalized feeds on social media, finding in part that the act was not unconstitutionally vague.
September 10, 2025
Apple Seeks To Dismiss Developers’ App Store ‘Monopoly’ Claims

OAKLAND, Calif. — Apple Inc. in California federal court moved to dismiss a putative class action brought by developers accusing it of monopolizing the market for mobile apps and forcing companies to pay “supra-competitive commissions” to keep their products on the Apple App Store, writing that the plaintiffs lack standing under California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and cannot bring claims for violation of Korean and Japanese anti-monopoly laws.
September 08, 2025
Order Issued Dismissing Newsmax Antitrust Streaming Services Suit Against Fox

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — In a sua sponte order filed Sept. 5, a Florida federal judge dismissed without prejudice a “shotgun pleading” complaint filed by Newsmax Broadcasting LLC against Fox News Network LLC and Fox Corp., alleging violations of the Sherman Act and Florida state law related to Fox News’ purported “market power to coerce distributors,” including virtual multichannel video programming distributors, “into not carrying or into marginalizing other right-leaning news channels, including Newsmax.”
September 08, 2025
ISPs, U.S. To High Court: ISP Infringement Liability Ruling Could Stifle Web

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A coalition of trade organizations representing internet service providers (ISPs) tells the U.S. Supreme Court in a Sept. 5 amicus curiae brief that the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ finding that an ISP was liable for contributory infringement for piracy actions from internet users could “undermine decades of progress in getting Americans everywhere connected to the Internet.”
September 05, 2025
‘Largest’ Class Certified In Antitrust Dispute With Amazon Over Monopolization

SEATTLE — A Washington federal judge granted class certification in a Sherman Act antitrust suit against Amazon.com Inc. for its alleged monopolization of the market by stopping rivals from lowering prices related to the purchase on Amazon marketplace of physical goods from third-party sellers, finding that the requirements for class certification have been met, including numerosity, which according to plaintiffs’ economic expert, relates to “around 300 million” U.S. consumers.
September 05, 2025
Newsmax Sues Fox News, Alleges Antitrust Violations Related To Streaming Services

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Newsmax Broadcasting LLC sued Fox News Network LLC and Fox Corp., alleging violations of the Sherman Act and related Florida state law, asserting that Fox uses its “market power to coerce distributors,” including virtual multichannel video programming distributors, “into not carrying or into marginalizing other right-leaning news channels, including Newsmax.”
September 05, 2025
Judge: Tech Company Established Ownership In IP Fight With TikTok Before Trial

SAN FRANCISCO — In a pair of orders, a California federal judge held that a China-based company adequately established that it owns the asserted copyrights and trade secrets in a “heavily litigated” dispute with TikTok Inc. and affiliated entities, including source code from an earlier video-editing app that preceded the plaintiff entity’s app. The judge found that there is no triable issue of fact as to the ownership of the code.
September 05, 2025
9th Circuit Transfers Fee Issue In Facebook Cybersquatting Trademark Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — Without providing explanation, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted a motion filed by Instagram LLC and Facebook Inc., now known as Meta Platforms Inc., (collectively, Meta) to transfer consideration of attorney fees on appeal to a district court in Meta’s trademark infringement suit against multiple Chinese-based companies for their alleged cybersquatting by using domain names purportedly infringing on Meta’s trademarks.
September 05, 2025
3rd Circuit: Policy Violations Not Federal Crimes, Passwords Not Trade Secrets

PHILADELPHIA — Under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), workplace policy infractions are not federal crimes and federal and Pennsylvania laws do not hold that passwords protecting proprietary business information are trade secrets, a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found “for the first time” in affirming a district court ruling that two former employees of a national debt-collection firm did not commit computer fraud, steal trade secrets or violate other state and federal laws through the creation and sharing of a spreadsheet containing passwords and login information protecting “confidential and proprietary information.”
September 04, 2025
Disney Settles Children’s Online Privacy Violations With FTC For $10 Million

LOS ANGELES — In a stipulation and proposed order filed in California federal court, Disney Worldwide Services Inc. and Disney Entertainment Operations LLC (together, Disney) have agreed to pay $10 million to settle allegations by the Federal Trade Commission that it violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by not properly designating whether videos it uploaded to YouTube were made for kids (MFK), which resulted in the collection of children’s personal data.
September 04, 2025
U.K. Plaintiffs Amend Class Deception Claims Against Coupon Finder

SAN FRANCISCO — Citizens of the United Kingdom filed an amended putative class action against a company that operates a discount-finding browser extension and its parent company for alleged violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) on behalf of all U.K. users of the browser extension who were not provided the best discounts available for certain products they purchased online, after a judge dismissed a prior complaint for lack of a connection to California.
September 03, 2025
Judge Says Google Not Required To Divest Chrome In DOJ Antitrust Remedies Ruling

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a suit in which a District of Columbia federal judge determined that Google LLC violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act, the judge on Sept. 2 issued an opinion outlining remedies, including not requiring the divestiture of Google Chrome. The judge accepted with modifications Google’s proposed remedies “in full” and adopted in part the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) and states’ proposed remedies.
September 02, 2025
Online Service Seeks Supreme Court Review Of Standing Ruling In Antitrust Suit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — An online pharmacy monitoring service filed a petition for a writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking review of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ affirmance of a lower court’s ruling denying the petitioner’s motion for summary judgment based on a lack of standing in a suit against the service alleging Sherman Act violations for a purported group boycott.
August 28, 2025
App Makers Unfairly Tried To Force Players Into Arbitration, 9th Circuit Says

SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Aug. 27 affirmed a lower court’s ruling barring a mobile gaming app developer’s attempt to enforce an “unconscionable” arbitration agreement with players who alleged that they were tricked into paying to play against bots instead of real people in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL).
August 28, 2025
Grindr Asks High Court To Deny Cert In Sex Trafficking CDA Suit By App User

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Grindr Inc. and Grindr LLC, the operators of the Grindr app, filed a brief in opposition to a petition for a writ of certiorari by an individual alleging that the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals erred in affirming a lower court’s ruling dismissing with prejudice as barred by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) a negligence, product liability and federal sex trafficking suit over injuries sustained after using the Grindr app.
August 28, 2025
Injunction Issued Against Website User Accused Of Posting Fake Google Reviews

SAN JOSE, Calif. — After granting in part Google LLC’s motion for default judgment, a California federal judge issued a permanent injunction to prevent a man and his agents from creating reviews on services owned by Google LLC in Google’s suit against the man and unnamed parties alleging violations of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) for the defendants’ purported participation in a “scheme” through their website to sell and post fake reviews for business listings on Google’s services.
August 27, 2025
Citing No ‘Exceptional Circumstances,’ Judge Denies Appeal In Online Consent Suit

TACOMA, Wash. — A Washington federal judge denied a motion for interlocutory appeal of the court’s prior order denying a motion to strike class allegations in a putative class action suit over alleged wrongful use of individuals’ names absent consent against ZoomInfo Technologies LLC, a company that provides a database with information about businesses, finding that ZoomInfo failed to establish “exceptional circumstances” that would merit interlocutory review.
August 27, 2025
9th Circuit Affirms Motion To Compel Denial In Online Retail Class Arbitration Row

PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s order denying a motion to compel arbitration by Lands’ End Inc. in a consumer’s putative class suit alleging violations of multiple California consumer protection laws regarding Lands’ End’s purported false advertising about pricing on its website, finding that contrary to Lands’ End’s claims that its website’s terms of use, including an arbitration provision, bar the suit, the District Court did not err in its determination “that the hyperlink to the Terms of Use was broken” at the time of the plaintiff’s purchase.
August 25, 2025
9th Circuit Grants Mandamus Relief Regarding Discovery Order Related To Meta MDL

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 22 granted in part a petition for a writ of mandamus filed by the attorney general of California and joined by other state attorneys generals seeking to direct a district court to grant the state attorney general’s objections to a discovery order requiring them to produce specified documents in a product liability multidistrict litigation over the purported addictive qualities for adolescents of several of the largest social media platforms, including Meta Platforms Inc.
August 25, 2025
Plaintiffs Suing Therapy App For Privacy Violations May Proceed Anonymously

SAN FRANCISCO — The anonymity of putative class plaintiffs accusing online therapy company BetterHelp Inc. of violating privacy laws by selling their personal data to third parties in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) does not require dismissal, a California federal judge ruled in denying the company’s motion to dismiss, citing the nature of the plaintiffs’ privacy protection claims.
August 22, 2025
Judge Tosses Online Privacy Class Suits Against ‘People Search’ Providers

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — A federal judge dismissed with prejudice putative class action suits filed by a retired law enforcement officer alleging violations of West Virginia’s Daniel’s Law, which provides a private right of action for disclosure of home addresses or unpublished phone numbers of current or former judicial officials, finding that a certain provision of the statute “regulates speech based on its content” and “cannot survive strict scrutiny” under the U.S. Constitution “because it is not narrowly tailored.”