152 results for 'cat:"Communications"'.
J. Pan upholds a $350,000 sanction against Twitter for its 3-day delay in producing info required by a search warrant related to the @realDonaldTrump account while it litigated its objections to a nondisclosure order pertaining to the warrant. Twitter was provided a hearing, and the district court properly rejected its good faith and compliance defense, as this defense does not excuse contempt. Affirmed.
Court: DC Circuit, Judge: Pan, Filed On: August 9, 2023, Case #: 23-5044 , Categories: communications, Sanctions
J. Scudder finds that the lower court improperly dismissed the doctor's Telephone Consumer Protection Act suit alleging the company sent him unsolicited fax advertisements. The doctor plausibly alleged the company's faxes indirectly encouraged him to buy its services by asking him to join its network of preferred medical providers. Reversed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Scudder, Filed On: August 9, 2023, Case #: 22-1540, Categories: communications, Consumer Law
J. Smith finds that the district court properly dismissed a class claim alleging a violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act after a company sent an individual at least three mass marketing text messages that utilized “prerecorded voices.” The text messages did not use prerecorded voices under the Act because they did not include audible components. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Smith, Filed On: August 8, 2023, Case #: 22-55517, Categories: communications
J. Donato grants judgment to the cell phone company and against the California Public Utilities Commission in an action brought by the phone company seeking a declaration that two Commission resolutions governing the calculation of surcharges on the phone company's revenues from intrastate service are preempted by federal law. The majority of the services that the resolutions would have imposed surcharges on are not surchargeable under the FCC's safe harbor provisions, and the Commission's enforcement of the resolutions would disproportionately impact the phone company in comparison to its competitors, thus conflicting with the FCC's competitive-neutrality requirement.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Donato, Filed On: August 4, 2023, Case #: 3:17cv5959, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Administrative Law, communications, Preemption
J. Smith finds the district court properly found in favor of the 5G telecommunications provider, entering permanent injunction against the city which attempted to block expansion of its network. The Federal Telecommunications Act preempts the city’s spacing and undergrounding requirements. “Safe-harbor” provisions in the Act were forfeited by the city’s failing to answer the complaint. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Smith, Filed On: August 4, 2023, Case #: 22-20454, Categories: communications, Municipal Law, Technology
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J. Hamilton finds that the lower court improperly dismissed a lawsuit against the defendant business partner of now-defunct Backpage.com stemming from the website's criminal sex-trafficking violations. The company provided custom-tailored software to Backpage and provided ongoing support, knowingly benefiting from the website's sex-trafficking venture. The complaint states a viable claim under Section 1595 and the Communications Decency Act. Reversed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Hamilton, Filed On: August 3, 2023, Case #: 22-2621, Categories: communications, Tort, Business Practices
J. Southwick finds the district and bankruptcy courts properly concluded that a particular claim was not permitted in this suit brought by creditors against the debtor satellite communications network distributor. The distributor filed for bankruptcy after entering into an agreement with the provider by which it would receive a discount in exchange for a minimum number of customers brought to the provider through the distributor’s maritime service. All debts have been satisfied but the one claim for a shortfall of over $2 million for deployment services found not to be permitted. The termination agreement’s definition of “permitted claims” unambiguously requires a claim for payment by the provider for services delivered. The provider’s claim for the shortfall amount did not satisfy “delivery” requirements. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Southwick, Filed On: August 3, 2023, Case #: 22-20274, Categories: communications, Maritime, Contract
J. Hamilton finds that the lower court improperly dismissed a False Claims Act suit alleging the telecom company charged schools and libraries more for services than allowed under the Schools and Libraries Universal Service Support program. The relator identified enough specific evidence of discriminatory pricing to allow a reasonable jury to find that the company charged schools and libraries more than similarly situated customers. Reversed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Hamilton, Filed On: August 2, 2023, Case #: 22-1515, Categories: communications, False Claims
J. Kirsch finds that the lower court properly dismissed a vet's class action against an animal healthcare company's sending of two unsolicited faxes. The faxes do not indicate to a reasonable recipient that the company was promoting or selling some good or service as required by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Kirsch, Filed On: July 24, 2023, Case #: 22-1304, Categories: communications, Class Action
J. Hicks grants a request by a Virginia-based media service provider and issues a preliminary injunction, temporarily blocking the owner of three Louisiana television stations from selling the TV stations and other assets to anyone other than media provider, according to their alleged contractual agreement. If the order were not issued, the Louisiana TV owner might irreparably harm the Virgina-based media provider by selling the TV stations and other assets, thereby infringing on the latter litigant’s contractual rights. Further, enjoining the Louisiana TV owner from breaching a contract it signed after months of negotiations can hardly be said to harm its interests. The threatened injury to the media provider outweighs the threatened harm to the owner of the three Louisiana TV stations.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Hicks, Filed On: July 20, 2023, Case #: 5:21cv4212, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: communications, Fraud, Contract
J. Baker finds that the trial court properly ruled in favor of the Texas Attorney General in a public information case concerning the cell phone records belonging to members of a school district’s board of trustees. Official school district business conducted over cell phone communication is subject to the Texas Public Information act and must be released. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Baker, Filed On: July 13, 2023, Case #: 03-22-00052-CV, Categories: communications, Government, Public Record
J. McKeown denies a petition for panel rehearing and amends a district court order reversing the district court’s dismissal of a third amended complaint in an action brought by a class of children against Google alleging that it used persistent identifiers to collect data and track their online behavior without their consent in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The district court previously held that the “core allegations” in the third amended complaint were preempted by COPPA. State laws that supplement federal law do not stand as obstacles to Congress’s objectives and are therefore not “inconsistent.”
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: McKeown, Filed On: July 13, 2023, Case #: 21-16281, Categories: communications, Privacy, Class Action
J. Frimpong denies AT&T's motion for summary judgment and denies in part a city's cross-motion for summary judgment regarding the city's denial of a new cellular tower that AT&T wanted to build. Substantial evidence supports the city's finding that the proposed facility was neither necessary nor desirable. AT&T did not submit evidence of a significant coverage gap. A genuine dispute of fact exists regarding whether the city has shown that available alternatives exist.
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Frimpong, Filed On: July 10, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv1642, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: communications
J. Millett upholds the district court's ruling against sex worker advocacy groups that challenged the constitutionality of the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act, which criminalizes those who run an online site that facilitates prostitution of another person. The Act is not overbroad or unconstitutionally vague. Affirmed.
Court: DC Circuit, Judge: Millett, Filed On: July 7, 2023, Case #: 22-5105 , Categories: communications, Constitution, Technology
Per curiam, the Ninth Circuit remands a matter to the district court for further proceeding to be consistent with the Supreme Court ruling of Gonzalez v. Google LLC. The Gonzalez Supreme Court ruling concerns the scope of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and its impact on the algorithmic systems companies use on their social media sites.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: July 3, 2023, Case #: 18-16700, Categories: communications
J. Bennett finds that the district court improperly dismissed an action brought under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. An individual alleged that a company sent text messages to her 13-year-old son's cell phone number which she had placed on the National Do-Not-Call Registry. The district court concluded that she lacked standing because she failed to allege that she was the “actual user” of the phone or the “actual recipient” of the text messages. The owner and subscriber of a phone with a number listed on the Do-Not-Call Registry has suffered an injury in fact sufficient to support standing. Reversed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Bennett, Filed On: June 30, 2023, Case #: 22-16216, Categories: communications
J. Ramos partially denies the New York Times' motion to dismiss a defamation suit stemming from statements made in an article titled "Trying to Make It Big Online? Getting Signed Isn't Everything," detailing accusations of impropriety against the plaintiff CEO, who manages and counsel's online influencers. The majority of statements listed in the complaint cannot be read to impart a defamatory intent, but the claim may proceed insofar as the article states the CEO intentionally "leaked" an influencer's nude photographs.
Court: USDC Southern District of New York, Judge: Ramos, Filed On: June 21, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv6807, NOS: Other Personal Property Damage - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: communications, Defamation
J. Failla denies the defendant television developer's motion to dismiss a copyright action stemming from its production of a police reality show called "On Patrol: Live," which the plaintiff developer claims is virtually identical to a show the parties collaborated on together called "Live PD" which was taken off the air after the death of George Floyd. The complaint plausibly alleges the two shows serve the same purpose, and there is unquestionably probable consumer confusion as shown by tweets showing viewer excitement that Live PD is back on the air.
Court: USDC Southern District of New York, Judge: Failla, Filed On: June 16, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv7411, NOS: Copyrights - Property Rights, Categories: communications, Copyright
J. Robinson vacates a lower court ruling in favor of Verizon New England, dismissing a consumer’s fraud and contract claims that the phone company should not have continued charging him until 2021 for a burglar alarm linking his residence to the Barrington Police station, after the station was demolished some time in the 2000s. Conflicting statements on when exactly the service line terminated and when the station was demolished reflect genuinely disputed issues of material fact. Vacated.
Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court, Judge: Robinson, Filed On: June 13, 2023, Case #: 2022-32-A, Categories: communications, Evidence, Contract
J. Conner permits plaintiffs, Pennsylvania residents, to pursue certain consumer protection claims accusing telemarketers of running a number of bogus fundraising campaigns for fake PACs in order to line their pockets with donations because plaintiffs verified telemarketers were directly connected to the political campaigns and that defendants had placed the calls.
Court: USDC Middle District of Pennsylvania, Judge: Conner, Filed On: June 5, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv1668, NOS: Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) - Other Suits, Categories: communications, Consumer Law, Privacy
J. Swartzle finds that an insurance company was improperly granted summary judgment in claims contending plaintiff received robocalls because mobile phone users may qualify as residential telephone subscribers under the telephone consumer protection act.
Court: Michigan Court of Appeals, Judge: Swartzle, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: 360506, Categories: communications, Privacy