On November 15, 2022, a California district court declined to dismiss a declaratory judgment action brought by a data scraper, 3taps, Inc. (“3taps”), against LinkedIn Corp. (“LinkedIn”). (3taps, Inc. v. LinkedIn Corp., No....more
On October 24, 2022, a Delaware district court held that certain claims under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) relating to the controversial practice of web scraping were sufficient to survive the defendant’s motion to...more
On November 4, 2022, a California district court took up the parties cross-motions for summary judgment in the long-running scraping litigation involving social media site LinkedIn Corp.’s (“LinkedIn”) challenge to data...more
Since the passage of Section 230 of the Communication Decency Act (“CDA”), the majority of federal circuits have interpreted the CDA to establish broad federal immunity to causes of action that would treat service providers...more
Background -
The issue of fraudulent crypto-related mobile apps has received much attention of late. Back in July 2022, the FBI issued a notice, warning financial institutions and investors about instances where criminals...more
9/16/2022
/ Apple ,
Communications Decency Act ,
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cryptocurrency ,
FBI ,
Financial Institutions ,
Fraud ,
Immunity ,
Limitation of Liability Clause ,
Mobile Apps ,
Phishing Scams
On August 29, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had filed a complaint against Kochava, Inc. (“Kochava”), a digital marketing and analytics firm, seeking an order halting Kochava’s alleged acquisition...more
On August 11, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) and announced it was exploring a rulemaking process to “crack down on harmful commercial surveillance” and lax data...more
With the enduring popularity of certain NFTs and the promise of their use in the Metaverse and beyond, the hype around the new technology has been accompanied by rising concerns over NFTs being the centerpiece of traditional...more
7/29/2022
/ Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Financial Crimes ,
Howey ,
Money Laundering ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Wire Fraud
On July 11, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published “Location, health, and other sensitive information: FTC committed to fully enforcing the law against illegal use and sharing of highly sensitive data,” on its...more
7/15/2022
/ Abortion ,
Biden Administration ,
Consumer Information ,
Data Collection ,
Data Protection ,
Data-Sharing ,
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Healthcare ,
Location Data ,
Location Privacy ,
Mobile Health Apps ,
Patient Access ,
Patient Privacy Rights ,
PHI ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Reproductive Healthcare Issues ,
SCOTUS ,
Sensitive Personal Information ,
Women's Rights
On June 15, 2022, Senator Elizabeth Warren introduced a bill, cosponsored by a host of other Democratic and independent Senators, the “Health and Location Data Protection Act of 2022,” which, subject to a few exceptions,...more
On May 19, 2022, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it had revised its policy regarding prosecution under the federal anti-hacking statute, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). Since the DOJ last made changes...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced yesterday that it would hire 20 additional positions to the Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit (formerly known as the Cyber Unit) within the Division of Enforcement, increasing...more
5/4/2022
/ Blockchain ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Investment ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Token Sales
On remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit earlier this week again affirmed the lower court’s order preliminarily enjoining LinkedIn Corp. (“LinkedIn”) from blocking data analytics company hiQ Labs, Inc.’s...more
4/22/2022
/ Analytics ,
Business Model ,
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) ,
Databases ,
DMCA ,
hiQ Labs Inc v LinkedIn Corp ,
LinkedIn ,
Misappropriation ,
Remand ,
SCOTUS ,
Social Media ,
Trespass ,
Trespass to Chattel ,
Unauthorized Access ,
Vacated ,
Van Buren v United States ,
Web Scraping ,
Websites
An Article addressing key privacy and data security developments in 2021 and likely trends for 2022, including federal and state regulation and enforcement. This Article also discusses private litigation related to data...more
3/16/2022
/ Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Hackers ,
Internet of Things ,
Ransomware ,
Regulatory Agencies ,
SCOTUS
On March 9, 2022, the President issued an Executive Order (the “E.O.”) that articulates a high-level, wide-ranging national strategy for regulating and fostering innovation in the burgeoning digital assets space. The...more
3/11/2022
/ AML/CFT ,
Biden Administration ,
Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDCs) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financial Transactions ,
FSOC ,
Investor Protection ,
Regulatory Agenda
The concept of the “metaverse” has garnered much press coverage of late, addressing such topics as the new appetite for metaverse investment opportunities, a recent virtual land boom, or just the promise of it all, where...more
12/3/2021
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Augmented Reality ,
Blockchain ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Digital Platforms ,
E-Commerce ,
Goods or Services ,
Information Technology ,
Innovative Technology ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Internet ,
Popular ,
Virtual Reality
In today’s digital age, the question isn’t whether there is open source software being used in a company’s products, but how it is being used and what license governs its use. Open source is ubiquitous. Despite its...more
10/27/2021
/ Breach of Contract ,
Contract Terms ,
General Public Licenses ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Open Source Software ,
Right to Repair ,
Smart Devices ,
Software ,
Software Developers ,
Software Licenses ,
Source Code ,
Television ,
VIZIO
On September 30, 2021, a Texas district court granted Southwest Airline Co.’s (“Southwest”) request for a preliminary injunction against online travel site Kiwi.com, Inc. (“Kiwi”), barring Kiwi from, among other things,...more
10/4/2021
/ Airlines ,
Aviation Industry ,
Breach of Contract ,
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) ,
Contract Terms ,
Data Collection ,
Likelihood of Success ,
Online Platforms ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Southwest Airlines ,
Terms and Conditions ,
Unauthorized Access ,
Web Scraping
Yesterday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed a settled securities fraud action against App Annie Inc., one of the largest sellers of market data on how apps on mobile devices are performing, and its...more
On July 30, 2021, a New York district court declined to dismiss copyright infringement claims with respect to an online article that included an “embedded” video (i.e., shown via a link to a video hosted on another site). ...more
On August 5, 2021, a proposed class action settlement was reached in the closely-watched privacy action against fintech services company Plaid Inc. (“Plaid”). The settlement features a $58 million settlement fund and certain...more
8/9/2021
/ Class Action ,
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financial Transactions ,
FinTech ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Popular ,
Settlement Agreements
Less than one week after issuing an order vacating its own March 2021 opinion in an important Communications Decency Act (“CDA”) case and granting a petition for rehearing, the Second Circuit issued a new opinion reaffirming...more
7/27/2021
/ Communications Decency Act ,
Discrimination ,
Good Samaritans ,
Harassment ,
Immunity ,
Online Platforms ,
Online Videos ,
Section 230 ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Terms of Service ,
Vimeo
On June 14, 2021, in a closely-watched dispute involving the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), the Supreme Court granted LinkedIn Corp.’s (“LinkedIn”) petition for certiorari filed in the hiQ web scraping case. It...more
6/17/2021
/ Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Databases ,
LinkedIn ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
SCOTUS ,
Social Media ,
Unauthorized Access ,
Vacated ,
Van Buren v United States ,
Web Scraping
In the past month, there have been some notable developments surrounding Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (“CDA” or “Section 230”) beyond the ongoing debate in Congress over the potential for legislative reform....more
In a closely-watched appeal, the Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, reversed an Eleventh Circuit decision and adopted a narrow interpretation of “exceeds unauthorized access” under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA),...more