Internet Law

Weekly Summaries Distributed November 13, 2015 In Re: Google Inc Cookie Placement Consumer Privacy Litig. Communications Law, Consumer Law, Internet Law  U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ClearCorrect Operating, LLC v. Int'l Trade Comm'n International Law, International Trade, Internet Law, Patents  U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

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In Re: Google Inc Cookie Placement Consumer Privacy Litig. Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Docket: 13-4300 Opinion Date: November 10, 2015 Areas of Law: Communications Law, Consumer Law, Internet Law Plaintiffs filed a class action alleging that defendants, who run internet advertising businesses, placed tracking cookies on the plaintiffs’ web browsers in contravention of their browsers’ cookie blockers and defendant Google’s own public statements. Essentially they claimed that the defendants acquired the plaintiffs’ internet history information when, in the course of requesting webpage advertising content at the direction of the visited website, the plaintiffs’ browsers sent that information directly to the defendants’ servers. They cited the Wiretap Act, 18 U.S.C. 2510; the Stored Communications Act, 18 U.S.C 2701; the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 18 U.S.C. 1030; and, against Google, violation of the privacy right conferred by the California Constitution, intrusion upon seclusion, the state Unfair Competition Law, the California Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act, the California Invasion of Privacy Act, and the California Consumers Legal Remedies Act. The district court dismissed. The Third Circuit affirmed as to the federal claims, stating that fraud or deceit does not amount to wiretapping; the alleged conduct implicated no protected “facility” under the Stored Communications Act; and the plaintiffs alleged no damages under the Fraud Act. The court vacated dismissal of the state law claims against Google. http://j.st/4egE View Case On: Justia Google Scholar

ClearCorrect Operating, LLC v. Int'l Trade Comm'n Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Docket: 14-1527 Opinion Date: November 10, 2015 Areas of Law: International Law, International Trade, Internet Law, Patents The Tariff Act of 1930 gives the International Trade Commission authority to remedy only those unfair acts that involve the importation of “articles” as described in 19 U.S.C. 1337(a). The Commission instituted an investigation based on a complaint filed by Align, concerning violation of 19 U.S.C. 1337 by reason of infringement of various claims of seven different patents concerning orthodontic devices. The accused “articles” were the transmission of the “digital models, digital data and treatment plans, expressed as digital data sets, which are virtual three-dimensional models of the desired positions of the patients’ teeth at various stages of orthodontic treatment” from Pakistan to the United States. The Federal Circuit reversed, holding that the Commission lacked jurisdiction. The Commission’s decision to expand the scope of its jurisdiction to include electronic transmissions of digital data runs counter to the “unambiguously expressed intent of Congress.” http://j.st/4egR View Case On: Justia Google Scholar