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
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
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
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
With the online shopping season in full swing, the FTC decided that online retailers might benefit from a reminder as to the dos and don’ts for social media influencers. Thus, the FTC released a new guide, “Disclosures 101...more
12/5/2019
/ Disclosure Requirements ,
E-Commerce ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Endorsement Guidelines ,
Influencers ,
New Guidance ,
Online Advertisements ,
Online Endorsements ,
Popular ,
Social Media ,
Websites
In the swirl of scrutiny surrounding the big Silicon Valley tech companies and with some in Congress declaiming that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) should be curtailed, 2019 has quietly been an important...more
8/29/2019
/ Automated Systems ,
Communications Decency Act ,
Dismissals ,
Illegal Drugs ,
Immunity ,
Narcotics ,
Section 230 ,
Third-Party ,
User-Generated Content ,
Website Owner Liability ,
Websites
In early July, Ticketmaster reached a favorable settlement in its action against a ticket broker that was alleged to have used automated bots to purchase tickets in bulk, thus ending a dispute that produced notable court...more
Two recent web scraping disputes highlight some important issues regarding whether a website owner may successfully allege a breach of contract action against a commercial party that has scraped website content contrary to...more
7/11/2019
/ Actual or Constructive Knowledge ,
Breach of Contract ,
Browsewrap Agreement ,
Cease and Desist ,
Clickwrap Agreements ,
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) ,
Forum Selection ,
Lanham Act ,
Permanent Injunctions ,
State Law Claims ,
Terms of Use ,
Unauthorized Access ,
Unfair Competition ,
Web Scraping ,
Website Owner Liability ,
Websites
In the past few months, there have been a number of notable decisions affirming broad immunity under the Communications Decency Act (CDA), 47 U.S.C. §230(c), for online providers that host third party content. The beat goes...more
6/24/2019
/ Communications Decency Act ,
Data Collection ,
Dismissals ,
Immunity ,
Section 230 ,
Third-Party ,
Tortious Interference ,
Unfair Competition ,
User-Generated Content ,
Website Owner Liability ,
Websites
Last month, a California district court granted a web-based service’s motion to compel arbitration of a putative class action brought by a user whose personal information was allegedly accessed in a massive 2016 data breach...more
Three recent court decisions affirmed the robust immunity under the Communications Decency Act (CDA), 47 U.S.C. §230(c), for online providers that host third-party content: the Second Circuit’s decision in Herrick v. Grindr...more
5/29/2019
/ Communications Decency Act ,
Dismissals ,
Good Samaritans ,
Immunity ,
Section 230 ,
Third-Party ,
Third-Party Service Provider ,
User-Generated Content ,
Website Owner Liability ,
Websites ,
WI Supreme Court
In Starke v. SquareTrade, Inc., No. 17-2474, 2019 WL 149628 (2d Cir. Jan. 10, 2019), the Second Circuit affirmed a ruling that denied a web service’s motion to compel arbitration, finding that the user did not have reasonable...more
This past week, a Texas district court denied a bid from a web service for a temporary restraining order (TRO) to enjoin a competitor that allegedly scraped a large amount of proprietary data from its closed site via several...more
Such Scraping “Plausibly Falls within the Ambit of the First Amendment”
The Ninth Circuit is currently considering the appeal of the landmark hiQ decision, where a lower court had granted an injunction that limited the...more
5/1/2018
/ Breach of Contract ,
Cease and Desist ,
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Data Collection ,
DMCA ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Privacy Policy ,
Terms of Use ,
Web Scraping ,
Websites
Today, the President signed H.R. 1865, the “Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017” (commonly known as “FOSTA”). The law is intended to limit the immunity provided under Section 230 of the...more
A New York district court recently held that a host of online news publishers and media websites that embedded certain tweets (containing unauthorized uploads of plaintiff’s copyrighted photo) on their websites violated the...more
In the latest development in the legal controversy over scraping, 3taps, Inc. (“3taps”), a data aggregator and “exchange platform” for developers, filed suit against LinkedIn seeking a declaratory judgment that 3taps would...more
Earlier this month, the Ninth Circuit issued a noteworthy ruling in a dispute between an enterprise software licensor and a third-party support provider. The case is particularly important as it addresses the common practice...more
1/25/2018
/ Breach of Contract ,
Browsewrap Agreement ,
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Social Media ,
Terms of Use ,
Unauthorized Access ,
Web Scraping ,
Websites
In a blog post last month, Google announced that it would extend certain commitments it made to the FTC in 2012 that were set to expire relating to, among other things, the scraping of third-party content for use on certain...more
In a decision that sets up a potential international comity showdown, a California district court granted Google’s request for a preliminary injunction preventing enforcement in the U.S. of a Canadian court order that...more
11/10/2017
/ Canada ,
Comity ,
Communications Decency Act ,
Delisting ,
E-Commerce ,
EU ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Google ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Right to Be Forgotten ,
Section 230 ,
Supreme Court of Canada ,
Website Owner Liability ,
Websites
The controversial consumer gripe site, RipoffReport.com, is at it again. The First Circuit recently affirmed a lower court’s ruling that RipoffReport.com was entitled to immunity under Section 230 of the Communications...more
10/25/2017
/ Attorney's Fees ,
Browsewrap Agreement ,
Communications Decency Act ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Defamation ,
Novell ,
Section 230 ,
Terms of Use ,
The Copyright Act ,
Third-Party Service Provider ,
User-Generated Content ,
Websites
In an unpublished opinion, the Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court’s ruling that had sent a putative class action against Amazon over its pricing practices to arbitration, as per Amazon’s terms of service. (Wiseley v....more
10/9/2017
/ Amazon ,
Appeals ,
Class Action ,
Clickwrap Agreements ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Internet Retailers ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Motion to Compel ,
Terms and Conditions ,
Unconscionable Contracts ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
Websites
Craigslist has used a variety of technological and legal methods to prevent unauthorized parties from violating its terms of use by scraping, linking to, or accessing user postings for their own commercial purposes. For...more
8/25/2017
/ Breach of Contract ,
CAN-SPAM Act ,
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) ,
Craigslist ,
Data Collection ,
LinkedIn ,
Permanent Injunctions ,
Software Developers ,
Solicitation ,
Terms of Use ,
Web Scraping ,
Websites
Service Providers Must Re-register Online to Maintain Safe Harbor Protection -
A service provider seeking to take advantage of certain of the safe harbors under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is required...more
12/7/2016
/ Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Office ,
DMCA ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ,
Music Industry ,
Popular ,
Registration Requirement ,
Safe Harbors ,
Takedown Notices ,
Websites
This past summer, we wrote about two instances in which courts refused to enforce website terms presented in browsewrap agreements. As we noted, clickthrough agreements are generally more likely to be found to be enforced. ...more
11/22/2016
/ AirBnB ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Browsewrap Agreement ,
Clickwrap Agreements ,
Consumer Contracts ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Discrimination ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Mobile Apps ,
Mobile Devices ,
Motion to Compel ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Sharing Economy ,
Technology ,
Terms of Service ,
Unenforceable Contract Terms ,
Vacation Rentals ,
Website Design ,
Websites ,
Young Lawyers