(First published June 29, 2022)

Meta (FKA Facebook) is facing eight lawsuits in different jurisdictions on the same subject – whether the algorithms on FB and Instagram causes addictive behavior and have deleterious effects on young users – arguing that the coding does not fall under the same safe harbor for user-generated content created by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. [Today’s General Counsel]

Two attorneys at Holland & Knight, representing a crypto exchange, have deployed a non-fungible token (NFT) to officially serve a temporary restraining order (TRO) on anonymous defendants in a hacking case, with the approval of the court. [Law.com $ | CryptoNews]

From the NY Times: “Microsoft Plans to Eliminate Face Analysis Tools in Push for ‘Responsible A.I.’; The technology giant will stop offering automated tools that predict a person’s gender, age and emotional state and will restrict the use of its facial recognition tool.”

The Digital Defense Fund has published a guide to protect digital privacy around reproductive issues.

Various_Bored_Ape.jpg

Yuga Labs, creator of the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection (try saying that 5 times fast) is suing conceptual artist Ryder Ripps and others for trademark infringement, arguing that Ripps et al created fake Bored Ape NFTs to scam consumers. [Docket on CourtListener]

In addition to co-sponsoring the Health and Location Data Protection Act of 2022 put forward by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D. – MA) earlier this month, Sen. Ron Wyden (D. – OR) is sponsoring the My Body, My Data Act to specifically protect reproductive health data. [Bill Summary | Bill text]

Upsolve, the legaltech provider of self-service bankruptcy software, was successful in New York State, winning a preliminary injunction against the Attorney General’s office with the court finding that “the First Amendment protects their legal advice as speech.” However, in Maryland, the company ran into trouble when a court found that a portion of its software “did engage in the unauthorized practice of law.” [Law.com ($)]

First published June 22, 2022

 

Hello and welcome to Lawyer Ex Machina!

  • Lawyers are optimistic about legal technology in general, but may not like the tech tools they’ve been given to use. [Law.com | $]
  • For those of you monitoring the efforts of the California State Bar to establish a paraprofessional licensing program, as well as a regulatory sandbox for non-law firm entities to provide legal services to consumers: The Bar may be prohibited from spending funds on either program if AB2958 passes with amendments recently added to the bill. [Law.com | $]
  • Speaking of the Cal Bar, it is a defendant in a proposed class action arising from a data breach of disciplinary records, where the website JudyRecords was able to access and publish over 250,000 confidential records. [Bloomberg | $]
  • Lots going on with data, mobile apps and reproductive issues as we wait on the Dobbs opinion:
    • “Facebook and Anti-Abortion Clinics Are Collecting Highly Sensitive Info on Would-Be Patients” [The Markup]
    • “Period-tracking apps store users’ most private data. What will that mean in a post-Roe world?” [Protocol]
    • “Sweeping Legislation Aims to Ban the Sale of Location Data” [Motherboard | Congress.Gov page | Bill text (PDF) ]
  • Beyond the location data bill, there is also a discussion draft of a general data privacy bill released by the House Committee on Energy and Commence. The Sub-Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce held a hearing on the subject on June 14th. Commentary on the provisions of the bill and likelihood of passage include:

Thank you for reading.