Mark Rabkin, vice president of Meta Reality Labs and the executive who heads Meta’s Oculus Store, doubts Meta has the internal capability to build its own successful virtual reality fitness app if its acquisition of Within Unlimited and its Supernatural VR fitness app falls through, he testified for the defense Friday in U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Jose, in an evidentiary hearing via Zoom on the FTC’s motion for a preliminary injunction to block the transaction.
A day after Mercantile Adjustment Bureau filed a motion to dismiss Sage Telecom’s telemarketing complaint for failure to state a claim (see 2212150047), Senior U.S. District Judge Sidney Fitzwater for Northern Texas in Dallas signed an order Thursday (docket 3:22-cv-02737) warning Mercantile that its Dec. 7 notice of removal was defective. If it's not fixed in 14 days, Fitzwater will remand the case to the state court where it originated, his order said. Mercantile’s notice failed to allege its principal place of business and to allege the citizenship of all members of its limited liability company, said the judge. All federal appellate courts that have addressed the issue of LLCs “have reached the same conclusion,” said Fitzwater: that the citizenship of an LLC is “determined by the citizenship of all of its members.” Sage’s complaint alleges Mercantile engaged in “continuous and repetitive” telephone solicitations at least 187 times in the past two years to low-income households that subscribe to Sage’s wireless and broadband services, and did so without the required certification from the Texas secretary of state, in violation of the Texas Business and Commercial Code.
A woman who shared social media posts of two California high school students allegedly engaging in racist, blackface activity after the 2020 killing of George Floyd isn’t liable for defamation of the students because she’s protected by Communications Decency Act Section 230, California’s Court of Appeal for the First Appellate District ruled Thursday, affirming a trial court’s decision.
Attorneys for Charter Communications and Spectrum filed a civil appeal statement Monday at the 11th Circuit U.S. Appeals Court (docket 22-13931) in their appeal of an Oct. 17 order in U.S. District Court for Middle Florida granting summary judgment to a plaintiff who successfully sued to force the company to supply him with free equipment and services. Plaintiff Harry Jacobs was a shareholder in Sanlando Cablevision when Storer Communications acquired it in 1983. As part of the acquisition, Sanlando and Storer created a lifetime agreement for the benefit of Jacobs and other named beneficiaries to “receive and/or continue to receive free of charge each and every product, service, system or item of rental equipment whatsoever presently offered or offered in the future in the Central Florida area by Sanlando Cablevision” or its successor companies. As successor to that agreement, Spectrum provided Jacobs with free cable TV, home phone and high-speed internet services and related products since 2016. Jacobs’ account was “consistent” with those of other customers who received complimentary devices and services, but he wasn’t receiving all channels or the fastest internet speeds that Spectrum offered, nor was he receiving the mobile phones and wireless service that Spectrum offers paying customers. Jacobs sued after Spectrum refused his requests to receive all the channels and fastest internet speeds, plus the mobile phones and wireless service. Spectrum argued that cellphones, mobile service and levels of internet service are not referenced in Jacobs’ original agreement with Sanlando and Storer. Jacobs countered, and the court agreed, that the agreement was broad and inclusive, covering all items requested.
The plaintiff in the class action alleging State Farm violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act believes it's more likely than not he will amend his complaint to address various issues raised in State Farm’s motion to dismiss (see 2212050027), said a joint initial status report Friday (docket 1:22-cv-05546) in U.S. District Court for Northern Illinois in Chicago. State Farm’s motion to dismiss asserted that Gebka failed to allege “any facts to support any vicarious liability theory” that could hold State Farm liable under the TCPA for calls it didn't make, said the report. State Farm also alleges Gebka in previous litigation attributed to Allstate the originating calls alleged in the State Farm complaint, and that he “invited the balance of the calls” when he sought insurance quotes from State Farm agents. Gebka’s attorneys believe if the case is certified as a class action, a jury trial would last five to six days, said the report. State Farm contends if Gebka’s lawyers carry through with plans to certify a class involving the marketing activity of 19,000 State Farm Agents over the past four years, any trial of a certified class would be “months-long,” it said.
The U.S. District Court for Middle Florida in Tampa granted AT&T’s request to transfer its motion to compel Voxon documents under subpoena to the U.S. District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where the subpoena originated, said an order signed Wednesday (docket 8:22-mc-43) by U.S. Magistrate Judge Amanda Arnold Sansone. Core Communications sued AT&T in the Philadelphia court seeking the recovery of $11.4 million in unpaid access services charges (see 2211230053). AT&T challenges the validity of the unpaid charges, and says the documents it seeks from Voxon, one of Core’s upstream partners, are “directly relevant” to its defense in the case. Voxon didn't respond to AT&T’s motions to transfer or compel, and under Local Rule 3.01(c) the court is free to treat the motions as unopposed, said Sansone’s order. Other nonparties failed to comply with AT&T subpoenas, and AT&T “anticipates moving to compel and transfer in various jurisdictions,” it said. Without transfer to the Philadelphia court, “there is a risk of conflicting rulings,” it said. “The complexity of the underlying litigation favors finding exceptional circumstances to transfer these subpoena related motions,” said the judge. “The exceptional circumstances here -- the risk of inconsistent discovery rulings, the complexity of the case, as well as the interests of judicial economy and efficiency -- outweigh the interest Voxon has in litigating AT&T’s motion to compel locally.”
Upholding the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that Twitter abetted terrorists because the platform was used by ISIS for recruitment (see 2211300073) would have a chilling effect on free speech, open numerous businesses to massive liability, and ignore the difficulties, costs and scale of content moderation, said amicus filings from the U.S Chamber of Commerce, CTA, CCIA and others in Supreme Court case Twitter v. Taamneh (docket 21-1496). “If that is a sufficient basis for liability, intermediaries will no longer be able to function as fora for others’ speech, and free expression will be the loser,” said a joint filing from the ACLU, the R Street Institute,the Reporter’s Committee for Freedom of the Press, the Center for Democracy & Technology, and others.
Smartbiz is “one of the most prolific transmitters of illegal robocalls” in the U.S., said Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody (R) in a complaint filed Monday (docket 1:22-cv-23945) in U.S. District Court for Southern Florida in Miami. She alleges the VoIP company violated the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act and other statutes, plus the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule.
Fourteen cellular partnerships filed breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty suits against AT&T and several subsidiaries in Delaware Chancery Court in relation to a decade-long court case over cellular partnerships, said multiple filings Monday.
Chinese companies appear likely to take the FCC to court with the commissioners approving, as expected, a draft order to further clamp down on gear from Chinese companies, preventing the sale of yet-to-be authorized equipment in the U.S. The order, circulated by FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel Oct. 5, bans FCC authorization of gear from companies including Huawei, ZTE, Hytera Communications, Hikvision and Dahua Technology.