Two more privacy class actions were filed against Apple Friday, alleging Apple tracks and collects a wide range of user data, even as the company advertises it keeps users’ personal information secure. Over a dozen such cases have been filed since the start of the year, with claims that Apple “flagrantly engages” in user tracking (see 2302010017), despite bold marketing claims it does just the opposite.

SmartBiz “knowingly plays a significant role in connecting scammers to consumers in Florida and elsewhere,” said Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody (R), in a Friday response (docket 1:22-cv-23945) in U.S. District Court for Southern Miami in Florida, asking the court to deny the telecom company’s Feb. 2 motion to dismiss. Moody sued SmartBiz in December for violating the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act and other statutes, plus the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule.

John Spiller, one of the defendants in the lawsuit brought by the attorneys general in eight states to thwart illegal robocalls, agreed to a $122.34 million monetary judgment, suspended for his inability to pay, to resolve the allegations against him "without admitting liability,” said a stipulated order Friday (docket 4:20-cv-02021) in U.S. District Court for Southern Texas in Houston.

Midwest Cabinet Suppliers’ response to Verizon’s motion to dismiss Midwest’s first amended antitrust complaint “tellingly fails to respond to the merits of the motion and makes no effort to demonstrate the viability of the claims asserted” in the amended complaint, said Verizon’s reply Friday (docket 3:22-cv-00493) in U.S. District Court for Western Kentucky in Louisville.

U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman for Eastern Illinois in Chicago granted defendant Inteliquent’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in the fake ring tones case against T-Mobile, said her signed memorandum opinion and order Thursday (docket 1:19-cv-07190). After two rounds of motions to dismiss, Coleman’s order absolves Inteliquent of the one remaining civil conspiracy count against it.

The district court’s erroneous finding that Yout’s software platform was a circumvention tool under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (see 2302030005) “threatens the collaborative environment on which technological progress depends,” said Microsoft-affiliated GitHub in a 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals amicus brief Thursday (docket 22-2760).

A social media platform’s awareness of terrorist activity on the service doesn’t amount to aiding and abetting terror attacks (see 2301120061), Twitter argued Friday before the Supreme Court (docket 21-1496).

Nexstar Media knowingly disclosed to Facebook data containing subscribers’ personal identifiable information and digital files of videos viewed on its WGNTV.com website, alleged a Thursday digital privacy class action (docket 1:23-cv-01050) in U.S. District Court for Central Illinois in Peoria. A Nexstar spokesperson declined comment Thursday.

The U.S. District Court for Western Louisiana should dismiss a lawsuit from Missouri and Louisiana claiming Biden administration officials colluded with Big Tech to censor social media content because the states’ First Amendment claims are “meritless,” DOJ argued Wednesday in docket 3:22-cv-01213.

Plaintiffs Sheila and Dennis Thompson “lack standing” to pursue Count II of their Dec. 4 class action alleging Vintage Stock violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (see 2301120009), said the home entertainment retailer in a memorandum Wednesday (docket 4:23-cv-00042) in support of its motion to dismiss Count II in U.S. District Court for Eastern Missouri in St. Louis. The Thompsons lack Count II standing because they didn't allege any harm due to purported violations of the TCPA’s “technical requirements,” it said.