FTC v. Facebook: Social Media Giant Sued for Anticompetitive Conduct Posted on March 08, 2021 FTC v. Facebook, Inc., File No. 1910134 (FTC Dec. 9, 2020). [Complaint] FTC Sues Facebook The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has sued Facebook for anticompetitive conduct under Section 2 of the Sherman Act, which prohibits improper monopolization of a market. In support of this claim, the FTC cites Facebook’s 2012 acquisition of Instagram, its 2014 acquisition of WhatsApp, its API...
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Covid-19 and the Online Courtroom: Benefits and Drawbacks Posted on March 04, 2021 Less than a year ago, the prospect of widespread online trials seemed eons away. However, after nine months of a pandemic-induced global shutdown, it seems that the sci-fi scenario of online courtrooms has become today’s brave new reality: Many countries have moved courtrooms online to avoid fully abridging access to justice during the pandemic. After the first Zoom-only criminal jury...
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Woodring v. Jackson County, Indiana: Seventh Circuit Permits Nativity Scene on Government Property Posted on February 21, 2021 Woodring v. Jackson County, Indiana, No. 4:18-cv-00243 (7th Cir. Feb. 2, 2021), opinion hosted by USCourts.gov. Earlier this month, a divided Seventh Circuit panel held that a county courthouse’s annual nativity display did not violate the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause, rejecting the Supreme Court’s three-part test from Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) in favor of the “historical practices” rule the Supreme...
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Hartford Courant Company v. Carroll: The Second Circuit Finds Categorical Sealing of all Juvenile Criminal Cases Unconstitutional Posted on February 21, 2021 Hartford Courant Company v. Carroll, No. 20 2744-cv (February 1, 2021) On February 1st, in Hartford Courant Company v. Carroll, the Second Circuit struck down a Connecticut law regarding access to juvenile prosecution records for infringing upon First Amendment rights. Connecticut enacted Public Act Number 19-187 (the “Act”) in 2019, which significantly reduced public and press access to information surrounding...
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Bad Blood© with Taylor Swift’s Album Re-recording Posted on February 20, 2021 Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that someone other than Taylor Swift owns Taylor Swift’s songs. But it’s true and poses a hurdle as Swift commits to re-recording her own songs. This delicate situation has led to some bad blood between Swift and Scooter Braun, who owns the rights to the master recordings of Swift’s older music...
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Apple’s New Privacy Features Subject of Potential Litigation from Facebook Posted on February 20, 2021 Facebook is reportedly preparing an antitrust lawsuit against Apple, alleging that the App Store engages in anticompetitive behavior by requiring third-party app compliance with rules that Apple’s own apps do not follow. The lawsuit would be the latest escalation in Facebook and Apple’s ongoing feud, which was recently exacerbated by two new privacy features of iOS 14. The first feature...
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The State of Privacy under a Biden Administration: Federal Cybersecurity Legislation, Strict Regulatory Enforcement, and a New Privacy Shield with the EU Posted on February 20, 2021 From January 20th onward, the Biden administration has collided headfirst with unprecedented public health, economic, and national security crises, symptoms of a pandemic that have sparked intense speculation around the new administration’s privacy policy. Digital contact tracing, sweeping collection of personal data, sophisticated modes of AI surveillance, foreign data hacks, and real world manifestations of cyber terrorism have provoked serious...
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The SolarWinds Software Hack: A Threat to Global Cybersecurity Posted on February 08, 2021 In December 2020, FireEye, a cybersecurity company, announced that their software had been compromised by a cyber attack. FireEye immediately tracked the attack back to a March 2020 update from SolarWinds, a Texas-based company that makes IT management software. The software in question, Orion, was corrupted by malicious code embedded in a software update that was then installed by around...
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Garcia v. City of New Hope: The Eighth Circuit Affirms First Amendment Protections for Rude and Offensive Speech Posted on February 07, 2021 Garcia v. City of New Hope, No. 19-1836 (8th Cir. Jan. 5, 2021), opinion hosted by USCourts.gov. The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reinstated a Minnesota driver’s First Amendment retaliation claim last month, reaffirming constitutional protections for “rude and offensive” speech. In their January 25, 2021 opinion, the court held that a police officer who detained...
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Campbell v. Reisch: Blocking Constituents on Twitter Posted on February 07, 2021 Mike Campbell v. Representative Cheri Toalson Reisch, No. 19-2994 (8th Cir. Jan. 27, 2021). Complaint hosted by CourtListener. District Court opinion hosted by Casetext. On January 27, 2021, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its opinion in Campbell v. Reisch. The court held that Cheri Toalson Reisch, a Republican state representative for Missouri’s 44th District, is entitled to block...
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