In its second December defamation complaint (docket 4:22-cv-558), Avid Telecom alleges conference call service company ZipDX launched a campaign to force Avid customers to terminate their business with the common carrier, said the lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for Arizona in Tucson (see 2212080050).

The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied Twitter’s request for a rehearing in the company’s lawsuit against Texas over a state investigation related to the platform’s suspension of ex-President Donald Trump (see 2205250040 and 2204120056).

Two federal judges noted recent Georgia political developments as they pushed back on arguments that the Georgia Public Service Commission election violates 1965 Voting Rights Act Section 2 protections against racial discrimination. The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals heard oral argument Thursday on Georgia’s appeal of a lower court’s ruling that electing PSC members for specific districts on a statewide, at-large basis illegally dilutes Black residents' votes (see 2210200035). The Supreme Court in August postponed Nov. 8-scheduled Georgia PSC elections, reversing the 11th Circuit's 2-1 decision to reverse the U.S. District Court in Atlanta.

Altice, through its high-speed internet service, “knowingly contributed to, and earned substantial profits from, copyright infringement committed by thousands of its subscribers,” alleged BMG and affiliates in a complaint (docket 2:22-cv-00471) filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern division of Texas in Marshall.

The lawyer for appellant TocMail in its false-advertising appeal against Microsoft struggled in oral argument Thursday before the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to explain how his client has standing to reverse a lower court’s finding of summary judgment in defendant Microsoft’s favor when TocMail can’t establish injury from Microsoft’s alleged deception in a two-competitor market. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon for Southern Florida in December 2021 ruling said Microsoft’s ads for its Safe Links enterprise email security software were ambiguous and couldn't be literally false when they claimed absolute protection against “IP evasion” cyberthreats.

Only a week after removing Sage Telecom’s telemarketing complaint to U.S. District Court for Northern Texas in Dallas (see 2212080043), defendant collection agency Mercantile Adjustment Bureau filed a motion (docket 3:22-cv-02737) to dismiss the case for failure to state a claim.

The village of Muttontown, New York, signaled its intention to file a motion to dismiss AT&T’s complaint alleging the municipality violated the Telecommunications Act by denying AT&T’s application to build a 165-foot-tall cell tower to remedy service gaps in its wireless coverage (see 2210090001).

California’s age-appropriate social media design law violates the First Amendment by telling sites how to “manage constitutionally protected speech,” NetChoice said Wednesday in a lawsuit seeking to invalidate AB-2273 (see 2209150070). The tech group drew comparisons to its free speech challenges against social media content moderation laws in Texas and Florida.

Verizon conspired with Equifax, Experian and Trans Union to violate the Fair Credit Reporting Act by failing for years to “fully and properly investigate” a fraudulent account attributed to plaintiff Tyler John Buck of Pierce County, Washington, and by failing to review “all relevant information provided by the consumer reporting agencies,” alleged a complaint Tuesday (docket 2:22-cv-01753) in U.S. District Court for Western Washington in Seattle.

Here are Communications Litigation Today's top stories from last week, in case you missed them. Each can be found by searching on its title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.