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
On May 14, 2021, President Biden issued an executive order revoking, among other things, his predecessor’s action (Executive Order 13295 of May 28, 2020) that directed the executive branch to clarify certain provisions under...more
On April 30, 2021 a California district court trimmed various federal privacy-related claims, including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) claim, from a highly-visible, ongoing putative class action against fintech...more
Except for the extensive coverage surrounding Coinbase’s IPO last week and the volatility in the price of cryptocurrencies, much of the air in the crypto space in the last few months has been taken up by the meteoric rise of...more
4/23/2021
/ Art ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Howey ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Smart Contracts ,
Token Sales
Last week, the Italian data protection authority (the “GPDP”) opened an investigation after reports that a dataset allegedly containing data compiled from 500 million LinkedIn profiles and other websites was available for...more
In a narrowly drawn, yet significant decision, the Supreme Court reversed the Federal Circuit and ruled that Google LLC’s (“Google”) copying of some of the Sun Java Application Programming Interface (API) declaring code was a...more
4/9/2021
/ Application Programming Interface (APIs) ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Fair Use ,
Google ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
IP License ,
Java ,
Oracle v Google ,
Software Developers ,
Transformative Use
Happy Silver Anniversary to Section 230 of Communications Decency Act (“CDA” or “Section 230”), which was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in February 1996. At that time, Congress enacted CDA Section 230 in response...more
3/18/2021
/ Communications Decency Act ,
Google ,
Illegal Gambling ,
Immunity ,
Loot Boxes ,
Mobile Apps ,
Section 230 ,
Social Media ,
State Law Claims ,
User-Generated Content ,
Video Games ,
Virtual Currency
This yearly report provides a summary of some of the significant changes and developments that occurred in the past year in the hedge fund and private equity spaces, as well as certain recommended practices that investment...more
With the change in administrations in Washington, there has been a drive to enact or amend legislation in a variety of areas. However, most initiatives lack the zeal found with the bipartisan interest in “reining in social...more
On January 14, 2021, Southwest Airlines Co. (“Southwest”) filed a complaint in a Texas district court against an online travel site, Kiwi.com, Inc. (“Kiwi”), alleging, among other things, that Kiwi’s scraping of fare...more
As reported last week, it appears that a state-sponsored security hack has resulted in a major security compromise in widely-used software offered by a company called SolarWinds. The compromised software, known as Orion, is...more
12/22/2020
/ Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) ,
Data Breach ,
Data Security ,
Hackers ,
Incident Response Plans ,
Popular ,
Risk Mitigation ,
SolarWinds ,
Supply Chain
As reported last week, a state-sponsored hacker may have breached multiple U.S. government networks through a widely-used software product offered by SolarWinds. The compromised product, known as Orion, helps organizations...more
12/22/2020
/ Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Security ,
Dual Purpose ,
Due Diligence ,
Hackers ,
Incident Response Plans ,
Popular ,
Risk Assessment ,
SolarWinds
On December 9, 2020, the Wall Street Journal reported that Apple and Google will block the data broker X-Mode Social Inc. (“X-Mode”) from collecting location data from iPhone and Android users. Apple and Google have...more
12/11/2020
/ Apple ,
Carpenter v US ,
Cell Phones ,
Cell Site Location Information (CSLI) ,
Data Brokers ,
Data Collection ,
Data-Sharing ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Geolocation ,
Google ,
Location Data
New York has enacted a new law, effective February 9, 2021, regulating automatic renewal and some “free trial” type agreements. While some organizations may have already taken steps to be in compliance with industry...more
12/8/2020
/ Auto-Renewal ,
Automatic Renewals ,
Clickwrap Agreements ,
Consent ,
Consumer Contracts ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Digital Services ,
E-Commerce ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Notice Requirements ,
NYDFS ,
ROSCA ,
State Attorneys General ,
Subscription Services ,
Transparency
On November 30, 2020, the Supreme Court held oral argument in its first case interpreting the “unauthorized access” provision of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). The CFAA in part prohibits knowingly accessing a...more
The appetite for acquisitions and investment in online businesses has never been stronger, with many of the most attractive online opportunities being businesses that host, manage and leverage user-generated content. These...more
11/3/2020
/ Communications Decency Act ,
Congressional Review Act ,
FCC ,
Immunity ,
Investors ,
Online Platforms ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Section 230 ,
Social Media ,
User-Generated Content ,
Website Owner Liability
In continuing its efforts to enforce its terms and policies against developers that engage in unauthorized scraping of user data, this week Facebook brought suit against two marketing analytics firms, BrandTotal Ltd...more
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, 47 U.S.C. §230 (“Section 230” or the “CDA”), enacted in 1996, is generally viewed as the most important statute supporting the growth of Internet commerce. The key provision of...more
Many online services feature comprehensive terms of use intended to protect their business from various types of risks. While it is often the case that a great deal of thought goes into the creation of those terms, frequently...more
9/16/2020
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Biometric Information Privacy Act ,
E-Commerce ,
Hyperlink ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Motion to Compel ,
Online Contracts ,
Privacy Policy ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Retailers ,
Terms and Conditions ,
Terms of Service ,
Terms of Use ,
Websites
Last week, a putative privacy-related class action was filed in California district court against financial analytics firm Envestnet, Inc. (“Envestnet”), which operates Yodlee, Inc. (“Yodlee”). (Wesch v. Yodlee Inc., No....more
This past week, the operator of the popular Weather Channel (“TWC”) mobile phone app entered into a Stipulation of Settlement with the Los Angeles City Attorney, Mike Feuer (“City Attorney”), closing the books on one of the...more
8/18/2020
/ Advertising ,
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
Consumer Information ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Data Collection ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Geolocation ,
Location Data ,
Location Privacy ,
Mobile Apps ,
Privacy Policy ,
Unfair Competition
The currents around the Communications Decency Act just got a little more turbulent as the White House and executive branch try to reel in the big fish of CDA reform.
On July 27, 2020, the Commerce Department submitted a...more
8/3/2020
/ Communications Decency Act ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Executive Orders ,
FCC ,
Immunity ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Section 230 ,
Social Media ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Commerce Department
Last week, hiQ Labs, Inc. (“hiQ”) filed its brief urging the Supreme Court to deny LinkedIn Corp.’s (“LinkedIn”) petition for a writ of certiorari in the Ninth Circuit’s blockbuster ruling in hiQ Labs, Inc. v. LinkedIn Corp.,...more
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (“CDA”), 47 U.S.C. §230, enacted in 1996, is often cited as the most important law supporting the Internet, e-commerce and the online economy. Yet, it continues to be subject to...more
6/22/2020
/ #MeToo ,
Communications Decency Act ,
Congressional Intent ,
Defamation ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
DMCA ,
E-Commerce ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
First Amendment ,
Hate Speech ,
Revenge Porn ,
Section 230
In what could be prove to be an important decision within the context of scraping of “public” data, in a recent case the Eleventh Circuit reversed a lower court’s dismissal of trade secret claims relating to the scraping of...more