Digital Review
A monthly discussion of legal tech news from MLRC deputy director Jeff Hermes.
For detailed legal developments after January 2026, please see the MLRC Digital Media Law Database.
Digital Review December 2021 – January 2022
Justice Breyer's First Amendment & copyright decisions | Indiana's revenge porn law survives strict scrutiny | So many federal bills...so many First Amendment issues | Pegasus problems persist, proving pervasive | Copyright transfer as a remedy in non-copyright cases | Texas' content moderation law is enjoined | The Fifth Circuit questions Zippo | Plenty of…
Digital Review November 2021
Denials of rehearing in major cases in the Third and Eighth Circuits | Patent judges in Texas face scrutiny | An interesting cross-platform threats case in Wisconsin | Trump loses the home court advantage against social media | The NFT disputes are rolling in | and much more...
Digital Review October 2021
The Supreme Court is back at work and denying cert | The Facebook whistleblower makes waves | Cracking down on ransomware gangs | New hurdles for Trump's attempts to return to social media | President Biden finally gets around to FCC nominations | Missouri Gov. Parson needs to chill out | and much more...
Digital Review September 2021
The limits of the "modern public square" metaphor | The FTC ramps up on privacy issues | Section 230 and rights of publicity | The server test notches a win | The Second Circuit tries a third time to decide Vimeo | Texas passes its anti-content moderation bill | The Eighth Circuit and a hyperlink…
Digital Review May 2021
Florida tells social media sites how to moderate | A California city learns to check its security before lobbing a hacking claim | The embedded content issue is back in a suit against Instagram | A defective design claim against Snap evades Section 230 | The Facebook Oversight Board rules on Donald Trump | A…
Digital Review April 2021
The Supreme Court decides Google v. Oracle America, Biden v. Knight First Amendment Institute, and more | The Second Circuit tries to harmonize the law on standing in data breach cases | The Fourth Circuit takes on defamation by hyperlink | Two cases on revocation of access to digital content that users have "bought" |…
Digital Review February & March 2021
The U.S. Navy learns why unwritten copyright licenses are risky; the new wave of Section 230 reform bills begins to break; the SEC is keeping an eye on Twitter; the pendulum swings back toward net neutrality; a disturbing ruling on border device searches; worldwide activity on the relationship between news and tech; and much, much…
Digital Review January 2021
Trump booted off Twitter | Section 230 reform moving into the new Congress | Antitrust lawsuits against Facebook | Control shifts at the FCC, FTC, and USAGM | And much, much more…
Digital Review November 2020
California Prop 24 passes | A poser on defamation of online pseudonyms | Maneuvering at the FCC and FTC | Trump declares Section 230 a national security threat | French protests shut down police photography ban| and much more...
Digital Review October 2020
A new Supreme Court justice | A quick puzzle at the intersection of math and nostalgia | An actual 512(f) win | More 230 activity in all three branches | The DOJ antitrust suit against Google lands, and other countries consider jumping on the bandwagon | The Open Technology Fund notches a victory against political…