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Mealey's Cyber Tech & E-Commerce

  • October 03, 2025

    Meta’s Motion To Compel Arbitration Granted In Civil Rights Act ‘Retaliation’ Suit

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge granted Meta Platforms Inc.’s (formerly Facebook Inc.) motion to compel arbitration and to stay the proceedings by in a former employee’s suit asserting claims for violations of New York human rights laws and the U.S. Civil Rights Act for complaining about Meta’s treatment of female employees, finding that the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 (EFAA) “does not preclude enforcement of the arbitration agreement” the former employee signed because the “case does not involve conduct that is alleged to constitute sexual harassment.”

  • October 02, 2025

    Federal Circuit Vacates PTAB Obviousness Finding For Social Media Map Patent

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled Oct. 1 that the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) correctly held that a technology company’s substitute claims in a patent related to displaying social media posts on a geographic map satisfy the written description requirement under the Patent Act; however, the panel also decided that PTAB erred in its consideration of the obviousness of those substitute claims.

  • October 01, 2025

    YouTube Settles Trump 1st Amendment ‘Censorship’ Suit For $24.5 Million

    OAKLAND, Calif. — Parties agreed to a $24.5 million settlement in a putative class action filed in 2021 by President Donald J. Trump, individuals and putative class members against YouTube LLC and Sundar Pichai, CEO of its parent company, alleging that the plaintiffs were “de-platformed or censored” by having their content removed from YouTube.

  • October 01, 2025

    Family Cites Arbitration Win In Bid To Lift Stay On Chatbot Negligence Suit

    MARSHALL, Texas — One of two families suing Character Technologies Inc. and others over alleged harmful effects the company’s chatbots allegedly have on minors told a federal judge that they obtained a partial arbitral award and asked the court to lift the stay over their strict liability and negligence case.

  • October 01, 2025

    6th Circuit: Software Company’s Copyright, Trade Secret Claims Fail

    CINCINNATI — An Ohio federal judge properly granted summary judgment to a defendant software company on trade secret and copyright infringement claims, a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held, finding that the plaintiff software company’s trade secret claims were time-barred and that it failed to substantiate its copyright claim.

  • September 30, 2025

    Sendit App Maker Sued By Government For Collecting Kids’ Data, Fake Messages

    LOS ANGELES — California-based Iconic Hearts Holdings Inc. was sued by the U.S. government for violating children’s privacy and for engaging in deceptive practices related to the popular Sendit app, including gathering children’s data without parental consent, inadequate disclosure of automatic renewals for memberships and misrepresenting the identity of the senders of purported personal messages sent to app users.

  • September 29, 2025

    Judge Partly Dismisses Trafficking Victim’s Suit Against PornHub Owners, Visa

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge on Sept. 26 issued two rulings, partly granting a motion to dismiss filed by owners and operators of pornography website PornHub and a separate motion to dismiss filed by Visa Inc., which processes payments for PornHub, both of which were accused of violating sex-trafficking laws and California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by monetizing child sex abuse material (CSAM) made of the plaintiff while she was a minor.

  • September 29, 2025

    Tech Companies, PTO Tell High Court PTAB Can Review Expired Patents

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Apple Inc., Google LLC, LG Electronics Inc. and an affiliate tell the U.S. Supreme Court in a pair of Sept. 26 briefs that it should reject a patent-holding company’s petitions for writs of certiorari because they raise arguments about the constitutionality of inter partes review (IPR) proceedings before the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that the high court has previously rejected.

  • September 29, 2025

    Justice Kagan Seeks Response To Google Stay Request In Epic Games Antitrust Suit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan on Sept. 26 requested a response to an application filed by Google LLC and related entities seeking a partial stay of a permanent injunction that Google says “completely” overhauls its app store, the Google Play Store (Play), pending disposition of Google’s petition for a writ of certiorari in an antitrust suit filed against it by Epic Games Inc. over Google’s removal of Epic’s Fortnite game from the Google Play Store.

  • September 26, 2025

    Trump Issues TikTok EO, Says Proposal ‘Resolves’ National Security ‘Concerns’

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald J. Trump on Sept. 25 issued an executive order (EO) stating that a proposed divestiture plan through which TikTok Inc.’s parent company China-based “ByteDance Ltd. and its affiliates will own less than 20 percent” of TikTok “resolves the national security concerns” outlined in the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, the enforcement of which had been paused as to TikTok through previous executive orders that prevented a ban on the popular social network absent a corporate ownership change.

  • September 26, 2025

    FTC Reaches $2.5 Billion Settlement In Suit Against Amazon Over Prime Charges

    SEATTLE — A Washington federal judge on Sept. 25 entered a stipulated final order applicable to Amazon.com Inc. and two of its executives requiring Amazon to pay $2.5 billion to  the Federal Trade Commission in its suit accusing Amazon and certain of its executives of tricking customers into enrolling in the automatically renewed Amazon Prime service and making it difficult to cancel.

  • September 25, 2025

    Class Suit Over ‘Deceptive’ Online Apartment Ads Dismissed For Lack Of Standing

    GREENBELT, Md. — In a sua sponte ruling, a Maryland federal judge on Sept. 24 dismissed a putative class action by two former apartment tenants alleging violations of Maryland consumer protection laws against the manager of a Maryland apartment complex for “deceptive advertising” on its website related to “hidden fees” that increase the monthly rental cost, finding that the plaintiffs lack standing and that the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction because the former tenants failed to sufficiently allege injury.

  • September 25, 2025

    Character Technologies Facing 3 More Suits Over Chatbots’ Harm To Minors

    Character Technologies Inc., its founders and related companies were hit with a trio of strict liability and negligence lawsuits claiming that the company’s artificial intelligence chatbots caused mental and physical harm to minors.  The suits, filed in federal courts in Colorado and New York federal courts, bring to six the number of known suits claiming harm to minors from the company’s chatbots.

  • September 24, 2025

    Judge Deems Manufacturer Private Figure In Libel Suit Against Web Report Publisher

    TAMPA, Fla. — A Florida federal judge granted in part a motion for partial summary judgment filed by a power tool manufacturer in its libel suit against the operator of a website that publishes reports about publicly traded companies, finding that the manufacturer is a private figure for purposes of libel and that statements on the website’s second published report about the manufacturer are actionable because they are based upon false facts.

  • September 23, 2025

    U.S. Moves To Participate In High Court Oral Arguments In ISP Infringement Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. government on Sept. 23 requested leave to participate in oral arguments when the U.S. Supreme Court considers whether the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals erred when it found an internet service provider (ISP) was liable for contributory infringement for piracy actions from internet users; the government previously filed an amicus curiae brief in support of the ISP.

  • September 23, 2025

    Status Of State Laws Monitoring Minors’ Social Media Access And Related Litigation

    As of Sept. 22, 18 states across the country have been identified as enacting laws to restrict minors’ access to social media. Ten of those states are currently involved in litigation over their laws, many of which have been challenged by NetChoice LLC, a nonprofit trade association representing internet companies. 

  • September 22, 2025

    Iowa Teacher Fired For Posting ‘1 Nazi Down’ After Kirk Killing Files Federal Suit

    DES MOINES, Iowa — An Iowa public high school teacher and coach who was fired after posting the phrase “1 Nazi down” on his personal Facebook page in reference to the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk filed a complaint requesting a jury trial in federal court, alleging that the termination violated his free speech rights pursuant to the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

  • September 22, 2025

    Minors Sue Disney Over Data Collection On Videos For Children

    LOS ANGELES — Three minors filed a putative class action in California state court accusing two Disney companies of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by failing to designate certain YouTube videos as “for kids” and collecting information about those viewers, which was also the subject of a recent $10 million settlement by Disney with the Federal Trade Commission.

  • September 19, 2025

    FTC Sues Ticketmaster, Alleges Deceptive Consumer Pricing In Online Ticket Sales

    LOS ANGELES — The Federal Trade Commission and seven states on Sept. 18 sued Live Nation Entertainment Inc. and its subsidiary, Ticketmaster LLC, in a California federal court, asserting violations of the FTC Act, the Better Online Ticket Sales Act and related state laws for the defendants’ purported deceptive pricing by charging consumers more for online ticket sales than the initial listed price and “routinely” allowing “ticket brokers to exceed ticket limits.”

  • September 19, 2025

    PornHub Investors, Hedge Fund Lenders Dismissed From Woman’s Trafficking Suit

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge in two orders dismissed with prejudice claims brought against hedge funds that lent money to MindGeek S.a.r.l., the company that owns and operates pornography website Pornhub, and claims against former partial owners of MindGeek, in a lawsuit brought by a woman accusing MindGeek and its affiliates of violating sex-trafficking laws and California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by monetizing child sex abuse material (CSAM) that was made while she was a minor.

  • September 19, 2025

    Judge Denies Amazon Motion For Summary Judgment In FTC Suit Over Prime Service

    SEATTLE — A Washington federal judge denied motions for summary judgment by Amazon.com Inc. and three of its executives in the Federal Trade Commission’s suit accusing Amazon and its executives of tricking customers into enrolling in the Amazon Prime service, finding in part that fact disputes remain regarding the clear and conspicuous nature of Amazon’s disclosures.

  • September 17, 2025

    4th Executive Order Issued, Again Stopping DOJ Enforcement Of Act Banning TikTok

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald J. Trump on Sept. 16 issued a fourth executive order pausing enforcement of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act as to TikTok until Dec. 16, requiring the Department of Justice (DOJ) not to enforce the act, which would have resulted in a ban on the popular social network absent a corporate ownership change.

  • September 17, 2025

    California Bill Seeks To Curb Harm To Minors From AI Chatbots

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — As the number of lawsuits alleging that minors were harmed by the use of artificial intelligence chatbots continues to grow, the California State Legislature passed a measure designed to ensure AI companions will not promote self-harm.

  • September 16, 2025

    Parent Files Wrongful Death Suit Against Roblox, Discord Over Teen Son’s Suicide

    SAN FRANCISCO — The mother of a 15-year-old boy who committed suicide after purported sexual exploitation through online apps filed suit in a state court against Roblox Corp., which describes its app as “a platform for communication and connection,” and Discord Inc., whose app is described as “a voice, video, and text communication platform,” alleging negligence and other claims for their failure to protect her son from harm by a child predator using the platforms.

  • September 16, 2025

    Insurers Fail To Settle Equitable Contribution Suit Over Unlawful Recording Claims

    SAN DIEGO — A federal court in California on Sept. 15 reported that following an early neutral evaluation conference, a cyber liability insurer and a defendant insurer did not reach a settlement of the cyber liability insurer’s lawsuit seeking equitable contribution and indemnification for an underlying lawsuit alleging that their mutual insured intentionally failed to disclose that hidden cameras were installed in operating rooms and recorded patient procedures in an effort to investigate drug theft.