New Media and Technology Law Blog

Category Archives: Contracts

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ChatGPT Risks and the Need for Corporate Policies

ChatGPT has quickly become the talk of business, media and the Internet – reportedly, there were over 100 million monthly active users of the application just in January alone. While there are many stories of the creative, humorous, apologetic, and in some cases unsettling interactions with ChatGPT,[1] the potential business applications for ChatGPT and other … Continue Reading

New York Enacts First State “Right-to-Repair” Law

At the close of 2022, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed the “Digital Fair Repair Act” (S4101A/A7006-B) (to be codified at N.Y. GBL §399-nn) (the “Act”). The law makes New York the first state in the country to pass a consumer electronics right-to-repair law.[1] Similar bills are pending in other states. The Act is a … Continue Reading

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

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

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

UPDATE: On December 23, 2021, the parties reached a settlement, as Southwest filed an unopposed motion for entry of final judgment and a permanent injunction containing the same restrictions as the temporary injunction issued in September. Under the proposed permanent injunction, Kiwi would be barred from scraping flight and fare information from Southwest’s site, publishing … Continue Reading

Southwest Airlines Sues to Stop Web Scraping of Fare Information

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thoughtful Presentations of Terms of Use Crucial for Enforceability

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 less attention is paid to how those terms are actually presented to users of the service. As … Continue Reading

Eclipsed by Evolving Law, Policy and Technology, Seminal Mobile Location Data Case Settled

This past week, the operator of the popular Weather Channel (“TWC”) mobile phone app entered into a Stipulation of Settlement with the Los Angeles City Attorney, Mike Feuer (“City Attorney”), closing the books on one of the first litigations to focus on the collection of locational data through mobile phones. (People v. TWC Product and … Continue Reading

Protecting Business Information Assets in the “Work From Home” Environment

This past March, many organizations were forced to suddenly pivot to a “work from home” environment (“WFH”) as COVID-19 spread across our country.  However, many companies did not have the necessary technical infrastructure in place to support their full workforce on a WFH basis.  Often, remote access systems were configured assuming only a portion of … Continue Reading

Electronic Signatures Becoming the Norm during COVID-19 Outbreak

The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally altered the way we live and conduct business. Most non-essential businesses have closed their offices and established entirely remote workforces, and many individuals may be in quarantine, which means that “wet” signatures on paper can be highly inconvenient. This reality has focused more attention on electronic formats. In this blog … Continue Reading

Important Developments (Including Supreme Court Review) in the Interpretation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act

We continue to wait to see if the Supreme Court will accept LinkedIn’s petition to overturn the Ninth Circuit’s blockbuster ruling in the hiQ Labs case.  In that case, the appeals court held that an entity engaging in scraping of “public” data had shown a likelihood of success on its claim that such access does … Continue Reading

Open COVID Pledge Rolled Out to Make Patents and Other IP Available for COVID-19 Response

In an innovative initiative in the battle against the Coronavirus, the newly-formed Open COVID Coalition (the “Coalition”) launched the Open COVID Pledge (the “Pledge”), a framework for organizations to contribute intellectual property to the fight against COVID-19. Pursuant to the Pledge, rightsholders can openly license intellectual property to facilitate the development of tools and technologies … Continue Reading

Cluttered User Registration Screens Challenge Enforceability of Site Terms

In recent years, courts have issued a host of rulings as to whether online or mobile users received adequate notice of and consented to user agreements or website terms when completing an online purchase or registering for a service. Some online agreements have been enforced, while others have not. In each case, judges have examined … Continue Reading

Work-Outs of Technology and Services Agreements Challenged by COVID-19

In early February 2020, before most of us were truly aware of the implications of COVID-19, a well-respected IT consulting group predicted a $4.3 trillion global spend on information technology in 2020. Drivers of the projected activity included cybersecurity, outdated infrastructure, mobile accessibility needs, cloud and SaaS transitions, and on-premises technology requirements.  In late 2019, … Continue Reading

FTC Paid Endorser Settlement Sets Framework for Advertiser Best Practices

Teami, LLC (“Teami”), a marketer of teas and skincare products, agreed to settle FTC charges alleging that its retained social media influencers did not sufficiently disclose that they were being paid to promote Teami’s products. The FTC’s Complaint also included allegations that Teami made unsupported weight-loss and health claims about its products, an issue that … Continue Reading

Coronavirus and the “100% Work-From-Home” Scenario: Review Agreements with Vendors of Remote Access Technology

As part of the response to the outbreak of COVID-19, many organizations are working on contingency and business continuity plans that include an all-employee “work-from-home” scenario.  If it becomes necessary to implement such a plan, all employees of the organization will access the organization’s networks and systems remotely. Unfortunately, many organizations that are testing these … Continue Reading

Facebook Brings Suit against Mobile Marketing Firm for Siphoning User Data without Authorization

In continuing its push to enforce its terms and policies against developers that engage in unauthorized collection or scraping of user data, Facebook brought suit last month against mobile marketing and data analytics firm OneAudience LLC. (Facebook, Inc. v. OneAudience LLC, No. 20-01461 (N.D. Cal. Complaint filed Feb. 27, 2020)). Facebook alleges that OneAudience harvested … Continue Reading

Court Enforces Arbitration Clause in Online Terms of Service Accepted by a Minor

Epic Games, Inc. (“Epic”) is the publisher of the popular online multiplayer videogame Fortnite, released in 2017. In recent years, Fortnight has gained worldwide popularity with gamers and esports followers (culminating in July 2019 when a sixteen-year-old player won the $3 million prize for winning the Fortnite World Cup).  Players, in one version of the … Continue Reading
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