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

Mealey's Cyber Tech & E-Commerce

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.”
June 06, 2025
5th Circuit Affirms Dismissal For No Jurisdiction In Masons Online Defamation Row

NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of a tortious interference and defamation dispute between a masonic lodge and its conference regarding the suspension of the lodge’s charter and the conference’s alleged defamatory social media posts about the lodge, finding that the lower court correctly dismissed the suit for lack of personal jurisdiction.
June 05, 2025
9th Circuit Denies Apple’s Bid To Stay Injunction In App Dispute With Epic Games

SAN FRANCISCO — In a two-page order issued June 4, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a motion filed by Apple Inc. to stay an injunction pending appeal in an antitrust dispute with Epic Games Inc. over a lower court ruling that requires Apple to permit app developers to inform users of methods for making in-app purchases (IAPs) outside of the company’s App Store.
June 04, 2025
Granting Injunction, Judge Finds Fla. Social Media Law ‘Likely Unconstitutional’

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Deeming “likely unconstitutional” a Florida law that seeks to regulate access to certain social media platforms for Florida youth, a Florida federal judge on June 3 granted a preliminary injunction to two nonprofit organizations representing internet-based companies seeking to stop enforcement of certain provisions of the law, finding that “[t]he balance of the equities and the public interest . . . favor preliminary relief.”
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.