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

Mealey's Cyber Tech & E-Commerce

July 02, 2025
Jury Awards Over $314M In Class Suit Against Google Over Data ‘Misappropriation’

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California state court jury on July 1 awarded $314,626,932 to plaintiffs in a class action against Google LLC alleging that it misappropriated their cellular data allowances via passive transfers of information between Google and their mobile devices.
July 01, 2025
Petition Denied In Employee Speech Case; Justice Raises Concerns About Approach

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 30 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari seeking consideration of a question concerning a high school teacher’s social media posts and whether they were preemployment speech; Justice Clarence Thomas agreed with the denial but filed a statement “to raise serious concerns about the First Circuit’s approach,” calling the appellate panel’s analysis under the framework of Pickering v. Board of Education of Township High School District 205, Will Cty. and Garcetti v. Ceballos “deeply flawed.”
July 01, 2025
Consumers Oppose Live Nation, Ticketmaster’s High Court Petition On FAA Reach

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision affirming a trial court’s denial of arbitration in a putative class complaint accusing Live Nation Entertainment Inc. and Ticketmaster LLC of engaging in anticompetitive practices in online ticket sales does not create a circuit split or warrant review, consumers tell the U.S. Supreme Court in a respondent brief opposing the two companies’ petition for a writ of certiorari.
June 30, 2025
Amicus Tells High Court California Bar On Arbitration Must Not ‘Fester’ Longer

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A retail industry association on June 27 filed an amicus curiae brief to the U.S. Supreme Court supporting a cryptocurrency exchange’s petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of a California state court ruling barring enforcement of its arbitration agreement with customers, arguing that the state court undermined federal law by treating claims for public injunctive relief under California state law as inarbitrable.
June 30, 2025
High Court Won’t Review RFK Jr.-Founded Group ‘Censored’ Speech Challenge

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 30 denied a petition for writ of certiorari filed by the Children’s Health Defense (CHD), a nonprofit founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., seeking review of a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling affirming a district court’s dismissal of a suit alleging that Meta Platforms Inc. (formerly Facebook Inc.) violated the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by censoring what CHD says are accurate posts challenging the government’s “orthodoxy” as to the safety of vaccines.
June 30, 2025
High Court To Consider ISPs’ Liability For Users’ Infringement

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 30 granted a petition for a writ of certiorari from an internet service provider (ISP) that told the court that the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals was wrong to find it liable for contributory infringement for the actions of internet users who infringed on copyrights held by a group of record labels and music publishers; the high court also denied the labels’ cross-petition challenging the Fourth Circuit’s decision to vacate a $1 billion award in their favor for vicarious infringement.
June 27, 2025
High Court Finds Texas Porn Law Age Requirement Doesn’t Violate Free Speech

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 27 in a 6-3 ruling held that a Texas law requiring the operators of pornographic websites to verify that their visitors are adults does not violate the free speech clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
June 27, 2025
Nondelegation Doctrine Not Violated By FCC Funding Scheme, Supreme Court Says

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 27 ruled 6-3 that a Federal Communications Commission subsidy program does not violate the doctrines of nondelegation or “private nondelegation,” finding that the FCC’s delegations were properly guided by an “intelligible principle” set forth by Congress and reversing the en banc Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
June 26, 2025
High Court Won’t Review 9th Circuit Affirmance Of Dismissal Of Suit Against Meta

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for writ of certiorari filed by a man seeking review of 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.
June 25, 2025
Widower Can Replace Dead Wife In Google Gift Card Scam Suit, Judge Says

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California federal judge granted a dead plaintiff’s widower’s motion for leave to substitute himself as plaintiff, add new plaintiffs and amend the dead wife’s putative class action against Google LLC and affiliates for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by failing to protect customers from Google Play gift card scammers.
June 25, 2025
2nd Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of NFL Videos VPPA Class Lawsuit

NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court’s dismissal of a putative class complaint accusing the National Football League (NFL) of violating the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) by sharing personal data about users of the NFL’s website, mobile application and video service with a third party, citing Solomon v. Flipps Media, Inc. as “‘binding and dispositive.’”
June 23, 2025
Judge Denies D&O, Cyber Liability Insurer’s Motion To Dismiss $2.8M Coverage Suit

OMAHA, Neb. — A federal judge in Nebraska on June 20 denied a directors and officers and cyber liability insurer’s motion to dismiss two private equity firms’ amended complaint seeking coverage for the $2.83 million they lost when an imposter investor hacked a reserve account, finding that the policy’s definition of “loss” is ambiguous.
June 20, 2025
Tenn. Federal Judge Denies Bid To Stop Enforcement Of Social Media Monitoring Law

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee federal judge denied a motion by internet trade association NetChoice seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent the enforcement against its members’ websites of a Tennessee law requiring, among other things, age verification requirements on certain social media platforms, finding that NetChoice has failed to show the need for the injunctive relief requested.
June 19, 2025
Judge Grants Injunction To NetChoice In Dispute Over Social Media Moderation Law

JACKSON, Miss. — A Mississippi federal judge on June 18 granted a preliminary injunction to internet trade association NetChoice LLC as to eight of its members, including Meta Platforms Inc., to stop the enforcement of certain provisions of a Mississippi statute that would regulate minors’ access to certain internet platforms by requiring parental consent, finding that NetChoice has shown a likelihood of success in its First Amendment challenge to the law.
June 18, 2025
Judge Allows Claims That Apple Unfairly Blocked ICloud Competitors

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge denied Apple Inc.’s motion to dismiss a putative class action brought against it by consumers accusing it of monopolization for unfairly barring users of Apple devices from using competitive cloud storage services in violation of the federal Sherman Act and California’s unfair competition law (UCL).
June 18, 2025
Split 5th Circuit Affirms Award Of Over $12M In FTC Row With Online PPE Supplier

NEW ORLEANS — A split Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s award of $12,241,035.69 to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for consumer complaints about undelivered and unrefunded personal protective equipment (PPE) in the FTC’s dispute with an online retailer over late and undelivered PPE, finding that the retailer failed to provide any evidence to the contrary regarding the amount of undelivered and unrefunded orders.
June 16, 2025
Dismissal Partially Granted In Class Row With Software Company Over Cloud Outage

BOSTON — A Massachusetts federal judge partially granted dismissal to a company that offers the Kronos Private Cloud in a putative class suit filed by health care employees who said they were not paid wages owed during a cloud outage related to a data breach, finding that their negligence claim is barred under the economic loss doctrine and that their unjust enrichment claim is dismissed because of the lack of allegations showing that the employees’ wages could be a benefit “conferred” on the company.
June 03, 2025
COMMENTARY: ADA Title II Revision – Training Needed To Satisfy New Web Content And Mobile App Accessibility Requirements For State And Local Government Entities

By Kevin Gumienny, PhD
June 13, 2025
Judge Orders Electronics Company To Pay $33M For Faking Online Reviews

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California federal judge on June 12 granted a motion for default judgment filed by a plaintiff representing a certified class of consumers who claim that they were deceived by a Chinese manufacturer-owned company’s practice of faking reviews on Amazon.com to sell shoddy electronics in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and ordered it to pay nearly $33 million in disgorgement.
June 13, 2025
Video Game Fans Dismiss Suit Challenging Termination Of Online Racing Game

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Three plaintiffs on June 12 filed a notice of voluntary dismissal in California federal court of their putative class action claims against a video game developer for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by shutting down an online racing game, which they said was deceptive and unfairly deprived them of access to the game.
June 12, 2025
Stockholder Of Google Parent Sues Over Denial Of Demand To Inspect Records

WILMINGTON, Del. — A purported stockholder of Alphabet Inc. sued the company in the Delaware Chancery Court, asserting that Alphabet Inc., which the plaintiff says is the parent company of Google LLC, wrongfully refused his request to inspect certain records he says are relevant to his claims that Alphabet continues to violate the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act by allowing the TikTok mobile application to operate on the Google Play store.
June 11, 2025
Conservative Social Media User’s Suit Over ‘Political’ Ban From Sites Dismissed

OAKLAND, Calif. — A California federal judge on June 10 dismissed with prejudice a conservative activist’s lawsuit against social media companies Meta Platforms Inc. and X Corp. Inc. for banning her accounts on their platforms based on what she contended were constitutionally protected political statements, finding that the platforms as publishers are immune from her claims for violation of her free speech rights and of California’s unfair competition law (UCL).
June 11, 2025
Mandate Issued In 9th Circuit Ruling Affirming Judgment In In Social Media Dispute

PASADENA, Calif. — In a case on remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued a mandate regarding its ruling affirming a lower court’s judgment for parents who sued two members of a school district’s board of trustees the parents said violated their First Amendment rights by blocking the parents from the trustees’ public social media accounts.
June 10, 2025
Magistrate Approves $7.25M Settlement Of Patreon Privacy Violation Claims

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal magistrate judge granted a motion for final approval of a $7.25 million settlement to resolve claims that Patreon Inc. illegally shared its users’ video-viewing data with social media company Meta Platforms Inc., including more than $2.1 million in attorney fees, and rejected as invalid more than 900 opt-outs filed on behalf of class members by a third-party “recovery company.”
June 06, 2025
D.C. Circuit Upholds FCC Denial Of Application For $1.3 Billion Broadband Subsidy

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a ruling by the Federal Communications Commission declining to review an FCC bureau’s rejection of a broadband provider’s application for an award of $1.3 billion in subsidies to build out rural broadband networks after the provider received the award in a reverse auction subject to final approval, finding that the “denial was not arbitrary and capricious.”