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Mealey's Cyber Tech & E-Commerce

June 03, 2025
Panel Affirms $475K Judgment For Personal Injury Plaintiff In Wire Fraud ‘Scam’

SAN DIEGO — In what it said was a case of first impression, a California appellate court affirmed a lower court’s judgment for a personal injury plaintiff in a dispute with a restaurant and its employees over who bears the risk of loss when an “imposter” caused a $475,000 personal injury settlement to be wired to an unknown third party instead of the plaintiff, finding that evidence shows that “red flags should have alerted” the restaurant and the employees “to the fraud, and that there were none that should have alerted plaintiff.”
June 03, 2025
Judge Tosses Online Retailer’s Complaints Suit Against Amazon, Finds CDA Immunity

GREENBELT, Md. — A Maryland federal judge on June 2 dismissed without prejudice a negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress suit against Amazon.com Services LLC filed by an event planning company and its purported owner regarding complaints they received for an unaffiliated Amazon retailer that incorrectly listed the plaintiffs’ contact information, finding that Amazon is immune from the emotional distress claim pursuant to the Communications Decency Act (CDA).
June 02, 2025
8th Circuit Affirms Injunction Denial In Suit Over Alleged Stolen Computer Data

ST. LOUIS — The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 30 affirmed a lower court’s ruling denying an employer’s motion for a preliminary injunction seeking to enforce an employment agreement’s restrictive covenants in a suit accusing former employees of breach of contract and violations of state and federal trade secret laws for allegedly taking trade secret information from their work computers, finding that the former employer is not likely “to succeed on the merits of the case.”
May 30, 2025
Amici Urge Review Of 9th Circuit Affirmance Of Dismissal Of Suit Against Meta

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Amici curiae filed briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court urging review of a petition filed by a man seeking certiorari for 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.
May 30, 2025
Judge Grants Dismissal Motion In Coverage Row Related To Social Media Addiction MDL

OAKLAND, Calif. — A California federal judge granted insurers’ motion to dismiss a breach of contract suit filed against them by Meta Platforms Inc. and Instagram LLC over the insurers’ purported duty to defend and indemnify the insureds in a product liability multidistrict ligation regarding the alleged addictive qualities for adolescents of several of the largest social media platforms, finding that dismissal in favor of a suit in Delaware is appropriate under the first-to-file rule.
May 30, 2025
Justice Denies TikTok Motion To Dismiss In New York Suit Over ‘Addictive’ Harm

NEW YORK — A New York justice on May 29 denied in part and granted in part TikTok LLC and related entities’ motion to dismiss in a suit filed against TikTok and the entities by the New York Attorney General’s Office alleging fraud and deception for “addictive” harm incurred by youth using the social media platform, denying dismissal of the counts in the complaint but striking complaint allegations related to misrepresenting compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and misrepresenting TikTok’s relationship with the Chinese government.
May 29, 2025
9th Circuit Affirms Order Denying Judgment For Online Service In Antitrust Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s ruling denying an online pharmacy monitoring service’s motion for summary judgment based upon a lack of standing in a suit against it alleging Sherman Act violations for a purported group boycott, finding that there is standing under the Clayton Act “for injuries suffered by” a “business or property interest when competing in a legitimate market, even if such business or property interest has been attained by unlawful means.”
May 28, 2025
Supreme Court Won’t Hear Law Firm’s Challenge To Ad-Buying Trademark Opinion

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on May 27 decided that it would not hear a law firm’s challenge to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ affirmation of a judge’s finding that a defendant law firm’s purchasing of a competitor’s trademark in Google keyword ads was not trademark infringement, turning away the plaintiff-petitioner’s contention that the Ninth Circuit’s likelihood-of-confusion analysis conflicts with that used in other circuits.
May 28, 2025
DOL Rescinds Guidance That Advised ‘Extreme Care’ On Crypto In 401(k) Plans

WASHINGTON, D.C. — March 2022 guidance that directed fiduciaries to use “extreme care before they consider adding a cryptocurrency option to a 401(k) plan's investment menu for plan participants” has been rescinded, federal regulators announced May 28.
May 28, 2025
Fortnite Developer Seeks To Compel Arbitration Of Youth’s ‘FOMO’ Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — Epic Games Inc., the developer of “Fortnite,” on May 27 filed a motion in California federal court seeking to compel arbitration of a minor’s putative class action accusing it of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by using “deceptive countdown timers” and minors’ “fear of missing out” (FOMO) to incentivize their purchases of in-game items.
May 23, 2025
9th Circuit Hears Oral Arguments In Apple Watch Heart Rate Tracking Dispute

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in an appeal of a district court order granting Apple’s Inc.’s motion for summary judgment on claims that it violated federal antitrust law and California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by impairing a competitor’s heart rate tracking app tailored for the Apple Watch to monopolize the market.
May 22, 2025
SAG-AFTRA Files Charge Against Epic Games-‘Owned’ LLC Over Darth Vader AI Use

LOS ANGELES — Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) filed a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) charge against Llama Productions LLC, a company it says is owned by Epic Games Inc., accusing Llama of not bargaining in good faith by choosing “to replace the work of human performers with [artificial intelligence] A.I. technology without providing notice to the union” regarding the A.I. use of the voice of actor James Earl Jones for Star Wars character, Darth Vader, in Epic’s video game, Fortnite.
May 22, 2025
Judge Compels Arbitration Of Suit Against ‘Social’ Gambling Site Operator

LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge on May 21 granted a Cypriot gambling website operator’s motion to compel arbitration of claims brought against it by a man with a gambling addiction who alleges that the website is operated in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and the Consumers Legal Remedies Act (CLRA).
May 20, 2025
Judge Denies Attorney Fees To Activist Who Posted Hunter Biden Files

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on May 19 denied a motion for attorney fees filed by a conservative activist and his organization against whom Hunter Biden had brought claims for violation of computer fraud laws and California’s unfair competition law (UCL) after they posted data from Biden’s laptop online, finding after the voluntary dismissal of Biden’s claims that fees were not warranted.
May 16, 2025
Magistrate Grants Discovery Motion In Trademark Row Involving Web-Based Retailers

DENVER — A Colorado magistrate judge granted a fencing company’s motion for leave to conduct jurisdictional discovery in its trademark infringement suit against web-based retailers, finding that the jurisdictional discovery information sought is necessary for the court to determine whether it has personal jurisdiction over the defendants.
May 16, 2025
Judge Tosses Defamation Suit Against Meta, Says Opinions Are Not Defamation

CHICAGO — An Illinois federal judge dismissed with prejudice a suit against Meta Platforms Inc. and multiple parties filed by a man who said he was defamed by posts made about him in the Are We Dating the Same Guy? Facebook group, finding that the man failed to state a claim for relief and that the comments made about the man “were subjective opinions” and “cannot amount to defamation.”
May 15, 2025
Judgment Granted For Def Con In Defamation Suit Over Cybersecurity Conference Ban

SEATTLE — A Washington federal magistrate judge granted summary judgment to the organizer of the Def Con cybersecurity and hacking conference, Def Con Communications Inc., and its founder, Jeff Moss, in a suit accusing them of defamation related to transparency statements announcing a ban from the conference of a company for alleged violations of the conference code of conduct by its founder, finding that the misconduct implications in the statements “are true and were true at the time of publication, and that truth is a complete defense to a defamation action.”
May 14, 2025
3rd Circuit: Attorney Fees Valid Under Lanham Act In Robotics Company Squabble

PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania federal judge correctly dismissed one contract claim but was wrong to dismiss another in a dispute involving the intellectual property rights of two robotics ventures and an early investor whose relationship with the ventures later soured, a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held.
May 14, 2025
Citing ‘Sufficiently Pleaded’ Allegations, Judge Won’t Toss Online Consent Dispute

TACOMA, Wash. — A Washington federal judge denied motions to dismiss and to strike class allegations in a putative class action suit against ZoomInfo Technologies LLC, a company that provides a database with information about businesses, alleging that ZoomInfo wrongfully uses individuals names without their consent to advertise its products, finding “that the class allegations are sufficiently pleaded” and that the plaintiff has shown “that her name is used by ZoomInfo to do more than merely describe its goods or services.”
May 13, 2025
Calling Amazon’s Privilege Claims ‘Frivolous,’ FTC Seeks Sanctions In Prime Row

SEATTLE — The Federal Trade Commission filed a motion seeking sanctions against Amazon.com. Inc. in a suit alleging that Amazon and its officers “tricked” customers into enrolling in the Amazon Prime service, arguing that Amazon used its privilege log to hide evidence and that the claims for privilege “were so frivolous that an attorney, upon reviewing those documents or sections thereof, could not have had a good faith basis to withhold them on privilege grounds.”
May 13, 2025
Insurer Appeals Dismissal Of Subrogation Claims In Suit Over Ransomware Attack

WILMINGTON, Del. — An insurer filed a notice indicating it is appealing a Delaware judge’s grant of an application service provider’s motion to dismiss with prejudice its amended complaint, challenging the judge’s finding that it failed to properly assert subrogation claims seeking recovery from the provider for the amount paid to nonprofit insureds for investigative and remediation steps arising from a ransomware attack.
May 12, 2025
Live Nation, Ticketmaster Seek High Court Review Of FAA Reach In Online Sales Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Live Nation Entertainment Inc. and Ticketmaster LLC have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) protects all or only certain arbitration agreements and whether the federal act preempts California’s severability doctrine in a petition for writ of certiorari filed after the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court’s denial of arbitration in a putative class complaint accusing the two companies of engaging in anticompetitive practices in online ticket sales.
May 09, 2025
Award Of $800K Under Holdback Agreement Upheld By 3rd Circuit In IP Contract Row

PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 8 affirmed a lower court’s judgment that an employee who sold his software company to a company that manufactures electronic voltage instruments is entitled to an award of $800,000 pursuant to a holdback agreement regarding obtaining his revenue goals, finding that the lower court did not err in its determination that the employee’s interpretation of the agreement is “reasonable.”
May 09, 2025
Tesla Owners’ Automatic Software Updates Case Dismissed After Settlement

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California dismissed with prejudice a putative class lawsuit accusing Tesla Inc. of rolling out automatic software updates that “deplete the battery and reduce the driving range of the vehicles by at least 20%” after the named parties stated that they reached a settlement agreement as to the named plaintiffs’ individual claims.
May 08, 2025
Denial Of FTC’s Injunction Bid In Activision Acquisition Upheld By 9th Circuit

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s ruling denying a motion by the Federal Trade Commission seeking preliminary injunctive relief against the acquisition of the video game developer Activision Blizzard Inc. by Microsoft Corp., finding that the lower court correctly held that the FTC did not show the likelihood of success on the merits of its claim made pursuant to the Clayton Act.