These days, some of tech’s most important decisions are being made inside courtrooms. Google and Facebook are fending off antitrust accusations, while patent suits determine how much control of their own products they can have. The slow fight over Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act threatens platforms like Twitter and YouTube with untold liability suits for the content they host. Gig economy companies like Uber and Airbnb are fighting for their very existence as their workers push for the protections of full-time employees. In each case, judges and juries are setting the rules about exactly how far tech companies can push the envelope and exactly how much protection everyday people have. This is where we keep track of those legal fights and the broader principles behind them. When you move fast and break things, it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise when you end up in court.
Parent advocates were determined to make their presence known to Meta’s CEO.
It follows a similar suit filed two weeks ago by New York. Both allege that the loot boxes in games like Counter-Strike 2 are essentially gambling, and the class action accuses Valve of “deceptive, casino-style psychological tactics.”
The events giant is reportedly close to settling its federal antitrust lawsuit without having to sell Ticketmaster, though some state attorneys general may decide to push ahead with the case regardless. The settlement plan would require the Ticketmaster subsidiary to make concessions around exclusive venue contracts and amphitheater usage.
Cookie’s Bustle is an extremely weird PC game released in 1999. And for reasons no one understands, a person by the name Brandon White, through their company Graceware, has been trying to erase all trace of it through non-stop copyright claims. But the VGHF got its lawyers involved and has finally put an end to Graceware’s shenanigans.
We are happy to report that after bringing these facts to Ukie’s attention, Ukie has suspended takedowns for Cookie’s Bustle on behalf of Graceware, SL. This is a big victory for the gaming community, hopefully bringing an end to a rights-squatting campaign that has dragged on for years.
[Video Game History Foundation]
On Friday morning, the court ruled against the Trump administration (pdf) in the case of Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, about whether the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) gave the president the power to impose sweeping tariffs on imports from more than 100 countries.
The immediate impact of the ruling is not clear, as the president may try to use other justifications for the tariffs and everything that has followed. The NYT, WSJ, and CNBC have more coverage.
Otherwise, the TikTok parent will face “immediate litigation” for copyright infringement of Netflix’s Stranger Things, KPop Demon Hunters, Squid Game, and Bridgerton franchises:
“Seedance acts as a high-speed piracy engine, generating mass quantities of unauthorized derivative works utilizing Netflix’s iconic characters, worlds, and scripted narratives. Netflix will not stand by and watch ByteDance treat our valued IP as free, public domain clip art.”
Disney, Paramount, and Hollywood trade groups are equally concerned.
I’m in downtown Los Angeles where a state judge is hearing the first of several landmark trials about how social media allegedly harmed a teen girl going by K.G.M. We expect to hear from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg this week.
Bridget McCormack of the American Arbitration Association on AI-powered courts and the future of law.
Fed up with increasing subscription prices, viewers embrace rogue streaming boxes.
A Washington Post report digs into one 67-year-old man’s experience being targeted by a warrantless administrative subpoena that doesn’t need sign off from a judge or jury.
Among their demands, which they wanted dating back to Sept. 1: the day, time and duration of all his online sessions; every associated IP and physical address; a list of each service he used; any alternate usernames and email addresses; the date he opened his account; his credit card, driver’s license and Social Security numbers.
The Paris Prosecutor’s office announced that it’s abandoning X after French police raided the offices of Elon Musk’s social media network on Tuesday, part of a year-long investigation into whether X’s algorithm was used to interfere in French politics. Here’s a machine translation of its departing post:
“A search is being carried out at the French premises of X by the cybercrime unit of the Paris public prosecutor’s office, together with @CyberGEND and @Europol, as part of the investigation opened in January 2025. The Paris public prosecutor’s office is leaving X. Find us on Lkd and Insta.”
US District Judge Margaret Garnett dismissed two of the charges Mangione faced in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last year, and doing so, removed the death penalty as a punishment for a potential jury to consider when the case goes to trial.
With less than two days before a partial government shutdown over funding for the Department of Homeland Security, Republican leadership is trying to dodge the hard work.
“I think right now the conversation should be between the White House and Democrats,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said. “The White House obviously is open to negotiation.” Democratic leaders, meanwhile, repeatedly put the onus on Thune for getting a deal. “We have to pass the bill here,” Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.), the top Democratic appropriator, told reporters. “He’s the majority leader.”
Today’s reports from Hunterbrook Media and Pablo Torre Finds Out claim the company’s hardware is seemingly easily obtained and popularly used in Russia’s war effort through already-sanctioned distributors and other middlemen.
Ubiquiti, which was fined $500k in 2014 over “reckless disregard” for Iran sanctions, did not respond to a request for comment.
As reported by NBC News, FBI director Kash Patel said the probe was inspired by conservative journalist Cam Higby, who claims to have “infiltrated” Signal groups from around Minneapolis that were allegedly obstructing law enforcement and tracking ICE agents’ movements.
“We immediately opened up that investigation, because that sort of Signal chat — being coordinated with individuals not just locally in Minnesota, but maybe even around the country — if that leads to a break in the federal statute or a violation of some law, then we are going to arrest people.”
Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol commander known for getting into social media fights with people criticizing ICE’s presence in Minnesota, has reportedly been removed from his job as “Commander at large” and will return to his former job in California, where he is expected to retire. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson denied that Bovino had been “relieved of his duties”, but nothing rules out the possibility that he’s being Mike Waltz’ed.
[The Atlantic]
Some plurals are just more fun than others to say — this commenter gets it.
The Schpongler:
Must feel so good to use the plural “attorneys general” at a scale like this. It’s like “senators elect”, “notaries public”, or “Bigs Mac”.
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A pair of bipartisan lawmakers introduced the Transparency and Responsibility for Artificial Intelligence Networks (TRAIN) Act in the House, letting copyright holders see if AI models were trained on their work. It’s already been introduced in the Senate, and counts the Recording Industry Association of America and SAG-AFTRA among its endorsers.
[Congresswoman Madeleine Dean]
The Democratic state AGs think they’re the only officials standing up to Trump. They are probably right.
The governor’s call to film ICE is part of an attempt to protect states’ rights — but not like that.
Two individuals who were driving dump trucks to the construction site in Richland Parish, Louisiana, were arrested on Wednesday. Local law enforcement says ICE “did not enter the Meta site at any time,” but told Bloomberg that agents were sweeping for identification of workers en route to the site.
Powell’s statement says the Fed received grand jury subpoenas “threatening a criminal indictment related to my testimony before the Senate Banking Committee last June,” about historic building renovations. But, he said, it’s actually retaliation for setting interest rates based on “what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President.”
