The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, granted HiQ’s motion for preliminary injunction, prohibiting LinkedIn from changing its access code to block HiQ’s efforts to scrape data from the LinkedIn website to gather employment data. HIQ Labs, Inc. v. … [Read more...] about Scraping Publicly Available Data Does Not, in a Preliminary Injunction Setting, Violate CFAA
Terms of Service Binds Uber APP Users to Arbitration
The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that customer Meyer agreed to arbitrate his claims with the ride hailing company Uber by agreeing to the Terms of Service (TOS) linked to the Uber APP on Meyer’s cell phone. Meyer v. Uber Technologies, et al., Case No. 16-2750 … [Read more...] about Terms of Service Binds Uber APP Users to Arbitration
Violating Terms of Service After C&D Letter Ends Authorization Under CFAA
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found that a social media aggregator, using internal and external email based upon a user’s Facebook activities, violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 (CFAA), 18 U.S.C. § 1030(a)(2)(C). The Court determined that under the CFAA, which … [Read more...] about Violating Terms of Service After C&D Letter Ends Authorization Under CFAA
Academics Seek to Declare Portions of the CFAA Unconstitutional
A group of professors, academics and a media company, through representation by the ACLU, has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Government seeking to declare the “exceeds authorized access” portions of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”), 18 U.S.C. §1030(a)(2)(C), … [Read more...] about Academics Seek to Declare Portions of the CFAA Unconstitutional
Obscure Online Agreements: Not Effective or Enforceable
When an online contract is obscurely hidden and referred to as a service agreement, the arbitration clause is not enforceable because the consumer did not agree to the contract and, as result, the contract does not obligate the parties to arbitrate disputes. Sgouros v. … [Read more...] about Obscure Online Agreements: Not Effective or Enforceable
Browse-wrap Agreements Are Ineffective As e-Commerce Contracts
A California State Appeals Court followed a Second Circuit Federal Appeals Court and a Ninth Circuit Federal Appeals Court decision in declaring that a browse-wrap contract for website selling goods did not establish a contractual obligation to arbitrate disputes. Long v. Provide … [Read more...] about Browse-wrap Agreements Are Ineffective As e-Commerce Contracts
Some “Terms of Service” are not Contractually Binding
A U.S. District Court held that terms of service (TOS) only identified as a hyperlink above a signature line in a contract provided electronically to a business customer, which contract required a signature on a printed version of the contract, did not incorporate the terms of … [Read more...] about Some “Terms of Service” are not Contractually Binding
Appeals Court Defines Who is a Subscriber for Internet Apps and Services
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a person who accepts and uses a free app is not a subscriber to the app service provider because he did not: provide any personal information to the provider, make any payments, register to use the service, receive a provider ID, … [Read more...] about Appeals Court Defines Who is a Subscriber for Internet Apps and Services
User Comments On A Public Interest Website Do Not Violate Website’s User Agreement
The Appeals Court for the Fourth District Court of Appeals in California affirmed the special motion to strike a plaintiff’s complaint for being barred under the anti-SLAAP statute. Hupp v. Freedom Communications, Inc., Case No. #-57390 (Cal. 4th DCA, November 7, 2013) … [Read more...] about User Comments On A Public Interest Website Do Not Violate Website’s User Agreement
Click-On Terms Of Use (TOS) Creates Valid Assignment For Copyright Infringement
The 4th Circuit held that an agreement to transfer ownership of a copyright in a photograph found in a website’s “click-on approved” Terms of Use (“TOS”, sometimes called Terms of Use “TOU”) was a valid assignment of the copyright. Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, Inc. … [Read more...] about Click-On Terms Of Use (TOS) Creates Valid Assignment For Copyright Infringement
