OA303: Katy Perry & Facebook

Today’s episode checks in on the record-setting $5 billion settlement that Facebook reached with the Federal Trade Commission for, among other things, violating a prior consent order by enabling developers like Cambridge Analytica to access your data without your permission. Is this a good deal for American consumers? It’s complicated. Oh, and you also get more music law with Katy Perry, and so much more!

We begin with an update on the Senate’s last-ditch push to nominate more than a dozen new Trump nominees for lifetime appointments on the federal bench. And yes, despite widespread opposition, despite minimal credentials in many cases, and despite all of them having disqualifying right-wing ideologies… all were confirmed before the Senate decided to take a break. (Sorry for the bad news.)

Then, it’s time for the deep dive into the Facebook-FTC settlement, which does indeed impose the single largest penalty ever for a consumer protection violation. Learn why the Democratic minority at the FTC thought it wasn’t enough, and along the way you’ll learn a lot about the FTC.

After that, it’s time to revisit music law, this time with a jury verdict that Katy Perry violated the copyright of Christian rapper Flame. Andrew gives you the law, and Thomas gives you the music — you won’t want to miss this segment!

Then — as if that wasn’t enough — it’s time for the answer to a brand-new #T3BE involving beer, the Constitution, and the notions of justiciability and ripeness. It’s not quite as good as having a beer, but it’s still a good segment!

Appearances

None! If you’d like to have either of us as a guest on your show, drop us an email at openarguments@gmail.com.

Show Notes & Links

  1. Don’t forget that there are just 2 tickets remaining for Opening Arguments Live in New York on August 10, 2019! Click here to get your tickets before they’re gone!
  2. Click here to read the FTC-Facebook settlement; click here for the Slaughter dissent; and here for the Chopra dissent.
  3. And then don’t forget all the Katy Perry pleadings, including (a) the lawsuit; (b) the jury verdict; (c) the proposed jury instructions; and (d) the proposed damages instructions.

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OA158: Cambridge Analytica

In this rapid-response episode, Thomas and Andrew discuss the scandal regarding Cambridge Analytica.  Is there a legal angle?  Have crimes been committed?  Listen and find out!

In the pre-show segment, Andrew helps out our reporters by giving theme the question they need to be asking regarding Stormy Daniels, which is:  “Now that you’ve acknowledged that you’re DD, and you’ve sued Stormy Daniels for $20 million, can you tell us what claims you had against Ms. Daniels that you believe you settled in that agreement?  What could you have sued her for?”  You’re welcome.

That segues into the “A” segment, where the guys discuss the differences (and one strange overlap) between the recent lawsuit filed by Karen McDougal and the top-of-Yodel-Mountain Stormy Daniels lawsuit.

After the main segment, we tackle a listener question regarding the difference between textualism and originalism, inspired by our most recent episode, Episode 157.

Finally, we end with an all-new TTTBE #68 that requires some math to figure out the appropriate measure of damages for breach of contract.  Remember that you can play along with #TTTBE by retweeting our episode on Twitter or sharing it on Facebook along with your guess.  We’ll release the answer on next Tuesday’s episode along with our favorite entry!

Recent Appearances

None!  Have us on your show!

Show Notes & Links

  1. This is the National Review article that actually gets Stormy’s story right.
  2. Here’s Mike Murphy’s article expressing skepticism of CA’s claims.
  3. This is the Price v. Facebook class action civil lawsuit, arising out of California’s Unfair Competition Law, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200 et seq.  And here’s the statement from NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
  4. If you wanted to set up a SuperPAC, Andrew’s old pals at Covington & Burling have drafted a simple how-to guide for you.
  5. Finally, here’s a hilarious Tweet from Peter Drice Wright that highlights a key problem with textualism.

Support us on Patreon at:  patreon.com/law

Follow us on Twitter:  @Openargs

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/openargs/

Don’t forget the OA Facebook Community!

And email us at openarguments@gmail.com

 

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