The Lane County, Oregon, motion for summary judgment against AT&T’s complaint to force approval of a 150-foot-tall cell tower (see 2306020025) makes several arguments that all “must fail,” said AT&T’s opposition Thursday (docket 6:22-cv-01635) in U.S. District Court for Oregon in Eugene. AT&T also filed a motion for summary judgment against the county (see 2306230009).
Amazon “reneged on without cause” a “contractual business relationship” it struck with logistics company GSC in late-2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic was “raging” and demand for Amazon’s products and services went “through the roof,” alleged GSC’s breach of contract complaint Friday (docket 1:23-cv-05368) in U.S. District Court for Southern New York in Manhattan.
AT&T’s June 1 motion for summary judgment against Lane County, Oregon, fails to demonstrate it’s entitled to relief as a matter of law for the county’s denial of its application to build a 150-foot-tall cell tower with accompanying communications electronics (see 2210260009), said the county’s memorandum in opposition to the motion Thursday (docket 6:22-cv-01635) in U.S. District Court for Oregon in Eugene. The county filed a motion for summary judgment against AT&T the same day (see 2306020025).
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer took the stand Friday in U.S. District Court for Northern California on the second day of the evidentiary hearing on the FTC’s motion for a preliminary injunction to block Microsoft’s Activision buy (see 2306220070). Under direct examination from FTC lead attorney James Weingarten, Spencer testified he views Sony PlayStation as hostile to Xbox’s survival, and acknowledged participating in internal Microsoft discussions about withholding Activision content from PlayStation if the deal goes through, though he said he couldn’t recall specific conversations.
Eileen Raposa's and Michael Raffo's consolidated class actions asserting claims over connected vehicle services that went dead after AT&T discontinued its 3G wireless services in February 2022 (see 2303030039) “suffer from various flaws that require dismissal,” said a Volkswagen Group of America (VWGoA) memorandum June 16 (docket 2:22-cv-06230) in U.S. District Court for New Jersey in Newark in support of its motion to dismiss. VWGoA simultaneously filed a motion to compel the Raposa and Raffo disputes to arbitration that, if granted, would render the motion to dismiss moot, it said.
“Countless” user accounts of Atomic Wallet, the cryptocurrency exchange platform, were hacked June 3, resulting in the loss of more than $100 million in global crypto assets, alleged a negligence class action Wednesday (docket 1:23-cv-01582) in U.S. District Court for Colorado in Denver. The company and founder-CEO Konstantin Gladych knew of existing “security vulnerabilities” since at least as early as 2022, “but failed to take necessary security measures or precautions to protect user data and funds,” it said.
FTC and Microsoft attorneys, in opening statements of Thursday’s evidentiary hearing on the commission’s motion for a preliminary injunction to block Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard buy, spent considerable time debating the fate of Activision’s signature Call of Duty franchise on Microsoft’s rival Sony PlayStation platform if the transaction goes through. The hearing is scheduled to continue over portions of the next four days (see 230615000).
U.S. Magistrate Judge Lee Dunst for Eastern New York in Central Islip denied without prejudice the Oct. 17 and Nov. 2 motions of 31 residents of Muttontown, New York, to intervene in AT&T’s cell tower dispute with the village, said Dunst’s text-only order Tuesday (docket 2:22-cv-05524). The motions were held in abeyance as briefing continued on Muttontown’s motion to dismiss AT&T’s complaint. The motion to dismiss is now “fully submitted” and pending with U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert for a ruling, said Dunst’s order. “As the dismissal motion may end or limit the current case, this ruling may impact the pending intervention motion,” it said. It’s therefore “appropriate for the court to exercise its inherent power to dismiss the intervention motions without prejudice” as a reasonable response to the problems and needs confronting the court's fair administration of justice, it said. As further grounds for the denial, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals “recently upheld the dismissal of intervention motions in a factually similar case,” said Dunst’s order. The 2nd Circuit said the Eastern District of New York didn’t abuse its discretion when it denied the motion of eight residents of Kings Point, New York, to intervene in Extenet’s infrastructure lawsuit against the village (see 2306160025). “This recent decision may require the proposed intervenors to revise their current motions” in the Muttontown case said Dunst’s order. It’s therefore “most efficient for the current motions to be dismissed without prejudice,” it said. That the current intervention motions and supporting papers exceed 700 pages is another factor that warrants denial, it said. The court finds that these “bloated filings violate the letter and spirit” of Local Rule 7.1(a)(3), it said. “Subject to the decision by Judge Seybert on the pending dismissal motion, the proposed intervenors may file a pre-motion letter request” consistent with Dunst’s order, it said. AT&T contends the village unlawfully denied its cell tower application, and the residents sought to intervene on the grounds they didn’t believe the village best represented their property interests (see 2211030048).
The FTC’s sole claim against Stratics Networks is barred under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act because Stratics’ ringless voicemail (RVM) platform and session initiation protocol termination service are interactive computer services under that statute, said Stratics’ memorandum of points and authorities Tuesday (docket 3:23-cv-00313) in U.S. District Court for Southern California in San Diego in support of its motion to dismiss the FTC’s Feb. 16 complaint. The government improperly seeks to hold Stratics liable as the publisher or speaker of content provided solely by others, it said.
The U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Francisco will provide a public audio-only feed of the evidentiary hearing on the FTC’s motion for a preliminary injunction to block Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard buy, said a text-only clerk’s notice Tuesday (docket 3:23-cv-02880). The hearing begins 8:30 a.m. PDT Thursday, and is scheduled to run for portions of five days (see 2306150001).