New Media and Technology Law Blog
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Jeffrey Neuburger

Partner
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Jeffrey Neuburger is a partner, co-head of the Technology, Media & Telecommunications Group, a member of the Privacy & Cybersecurity Group and editor of the firm’s New Media and Technology Law blog.

Jeff’s practice focuses on technology, media and advertising-related business transactions and counseling, including the utilization of emerging technology and distribution methods in business. For example, Jeff represents clients in online strategies associated with advertising, products, services and content commercialized on the Internet through broadband channels, mobile platforms, broadcast and cable television distribution and print publishing. He also represents many organizations in large infrastructure-related projects, such as outsourcing, technology acquisitions, cloud computing initiatives and related services agreements.

Serving as a collaborative business partner through our clients’ biggest challenges, Jeff is part of the Firm’s cross-disciplinary, cross-jurisdictional Coronavirus Response Team helping to shape the guidance and next steps for clients impacted by the pandemic.

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In the Coming ‘Metaverse’, There May Be Excitement but There Certainly Will Be Legal Issues

By Jeffrey Neuburger and Jonathan Mollod on Posted in Blockchain, Contracts, Digital Currency, Internet, Mobile, Online Commerce, Privacy, Quantum Computing, Social Media, Technology
The concept of the “metaverse” has garnered much press coverage of late, addressing such topics as the new appetite for metaverse investment opportunities, a recent virtual land boom, or just the promise of it all, where “crypto, gaming and capitalism collide.”  The term “metaverse,” which comes from Neal Stephenson’s 1992 science fiction novel “Snow Crash,” … Continue Reading

GPL Open Source Litigation Could Open the Door to Other Suits

By Jeffrey Neuburger on Posted in Contracts, Licensing, Open Source, Software
In today’s digital age, the question isn’t whether there is open source software being used in a company’s products, but how it is being used and what license governs its use. Open source is ubiquitous.  Despite its widespread use over the past decade, the provisions of open source licenses have been interpreted by only a … Continue Reading

Southwest Airlines Wins Injunction Barring Travel Site from Scraping

By Jeffrey Neuburger on Posted in Contracts, Internet, Online Commerce, Screen Scraping
UPDATE: On November 1, 2021, the parties filed a Joint Notice of Settlement indicating that they have reached a settlement agreement in principle.  The terms of the settlement were not disclosed. UPDATE: On October 28, 2021, the defendant Kiwi.com, Inc. filed a notice of appeal to the Fifth Circuit seeking review of the district court’s … Continue Reading

SEC Brings First Enforcement Action Against Alternative Data Provider

By Robert Leonard, Jeffrey Neuburger, Joshua M. Newville and Samuel J. Waldon on Posted in Alternative Data, Mobile, Regulatory
On September 14, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed a settled securities fraud action against App Annie Inc., one of the largest sellers of market data on how apps on mobile devices are performing, and its co-founder and former CEO and Chairman Bertrand Schmitt.  The settlement is the first enforcement action brought by the … Continue Reading

Another NY Court Repudiates Ninth Circuit “Server Test” in Case over Embedded Video

By Jeffrey Neuburger on Posted in Copyright, Internet, Online Content, Social Media
On July 30, 2021, a New York district court declined to dismiss copyright infringement claims with respect to an online article that included an “embedded” video (i.e., shown via a link to a video hosted on another site).  The case involved a video hosted on a social media platform that made embedding available as a … Continue Reading

Settlement in Plaid Fintech Data Case

By Jeffrey Neuburger on Posted in Alternative Data, Mobile, Online Commerce, Privacy
On August 5, 2021, a proposed class action settlement was reached in the closely-watched privacy action against fintech services company Plaid Inc. (“Plaid”).  The settlement features a $58 million settlement fund and certain injunctive relief that would make changes to Plaid’s methods of notice and consumer data collection, including provisions requiring the deletion of certain … Continue Reading

Some Interesting CDA Section 230 Developments: A Novel FCRA Victory, a Negligent Design Exception and a Startling New State Law

By Jeffrey Neuburger on Posted in Mobile, Online Content, Social Media
In the past month, there have been some notable developments surrounding Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (“CDA” or “Section 230”) beyond the ongoing debate in Congress over the potential for legislative reform. These include a novel application of CDA in a FCRA online privacy case (Henderson v. The Source for Public Data, No. … Continue Reading

Supreme Court Ends Long-Running Circuit Split over CFAA “Exceeds Authorized Access” Issue, Adopting a Narrow Interpretation That Will Reverberate in Scraping Disputes and Litigation over Departing Employees

By Jeffrey Neuburger and Jonathan Mollod on Posted in Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Data Security, Screen Scraping
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), ruling that an individual “exceeds authorized access” when he or she accesses a computer with authorization but then obtains information located in … Continue Reading

The President Revokes Prior Administration’s Executive Order on CDA Section 230

By Jeffrey Neuburger on Posted in Online Content, Social Media
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 Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (“Section 230” or the “CDA”) and remedy what former President Trump had claimed was … Continue Reading

Plaid Federal Electronic Surveillance Claims Dropped, Privacy Claims Survive

By Jeffrey Neuburger on Posted in Alternative Data, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Mobile, Online Commerce, Privacy
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 services company Plaid Inc. (“Plaid”), but allowed other state law privacy claims to go forward.  The lawsuit involves Plaid’s alleged collection and use of … Continue Reading

Landmark Fair Use Victory at the Supreme Court in Software Case

By Sandra Crawshaw-Sparks, Jonathan Mollod, David Munkittrick, Jeffrey Neuburger and Anisha Shenai-Khatkhate on Posted in Copyright, Mobile, Software
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 fair use as a matter of law, ending Oracle America Inc.’s (“Oracle”) infringement claims over Google’s use of portions of … Continue Reading

Mobile App Platform Entitled to CDA Immunity over State Law Claims Related to In-App Purchases of Loot Boxes

By Jeffrey Neuburger and Frances P. Kelley on Posted in Mobile, Online Commerce, Social Media
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 to case law that raised the specter of liability for any online service provider that attempted to moderate its … Continue Reading

Group of Democratic Senators Release Latest CDA Reform Bill

By Jeffrey Neuburger on Posted in Internet, Legislation, Online Content, Social Media
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 media” and pursuing reforms to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA).  As we have documented,, the parade … Continue Reading

Southwest Airlines Sues to Stop Web Scraping of Fare Information

By Jeffrey Neuburger on Posted in Contracts, Internet, Online Commerce, Screen Scraping
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 information from Southwest’s website constituted a breach of contract and a violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). (Southwest Airlines … Continue Reading

How to Respond to the SolarWinds “Orion” Supply Chain Attack

By Jeffrey Neuburger, Ryan P. Blaney, Margaret A. Dale and Nolan Goldberg on Posted in Contracts, Data Security, Software
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 enterprise network management software that helps organizations manage their networks, servers and networked devices. The software is widely-used by both public … Continue Reading

Mobile Platforms to Block Data Broker from Collecting User Location Data

By Jeffrey Neuburger on Posted in Alternative Data, Mobile, Privacy, Technology
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 reportedly informed app developers to remove the X-Mode social tracking SDK from all of their apps within a short period … Continue Reading

New York’s Automatic Renewal Law Coming in February 2021: New Compliance Issues to Follow

By Jeffrey Neuburger on Posted in Contracts, Legislation, Online Commerce
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 requirements, the federal Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA), and similar auto-renewal laws in place in California and other states, all … Continue Reading

Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument in Its First CFAA Case

By Jeffrey Neuburger on Posted in Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Data Security, Screen Scraping
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 computer “without authorization” or “exceeding authorized access” to a computer and thereby obtaining information and causing a “loss” under the … Continue Reading

CDA “Reform” on the Horizon: Investors and Operators Take Note

By Jeffrey Neuburger on Posted in Internet, Online Commerce, Online Content, Social Media
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 businesses often rely on the immunities offered by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, 47 U.S.C. §230 (“Section 230” or the “CDA”) to … Continue Reading

Facebook Brings Suit against Developers of a Browser Extension That Harvested User Data

By Jeffrey Neuburger on Posted in Contracts, Internet, Online Content, Screen Scraping, Social Media
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 (“BrandTotal”) and Unimania, Inc. (“Unimania”) (collectively, the “Defendants”) (Facebook, Inc. v. BrandTotal Ltd., No. 20Civ04246 (Cal. Super. Ct., San Mateo Cty Filed Oct. … Continue Reading
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