The 4th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court should grant Cox Communications’ March 5 petition for rehearing en banc (see 2403070003) because the panel’s holding that Cox is guilty of willful contributory copyright infringement will have an adverse effect on “innocent” internet users, said Public Knowledge and the Electronic Frontier Foundation in an amicus brief Tuesday (docket 21-1168).

A former Maximus sales director deleted company data, “sabotaged its systems, and revoked administrator access of other Maximus employees” without authorization, alleged a fraud complaint Tuesday (docket 1:24-cv-00395) in U.S. District Court for Eastern Virginia in Alexandria.

When 23andMe made several announcements about a data breach in October, it didn’t disclose that hackers who infiltrated its computer network “were after the personal information of Jewish and Chinese customers,” alleged a class action Friday (docket 3:24-cv-01418) in U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Francisco. 23andMe customer Rudy Thompson filed the complaint.

Indiana’s statewide “buffer law” (HB-1186), making it a misdemeanor to approach within 25 feet of police officers on active duty, gives the police “unlimited and unbridled discretion to move all persons away,” said Donald Nicodemus’ opening brief Monday (docket 24-1099) in the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

If ever there were a petition for rehearing en banc that should be granted, it's Cox Communications’ petition in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said Frontier Communications’ amicus brief Monday (docket 21-1168) in support.

Montana’s statewide TikTok ban is an “ordinary exercise” of the states’ police power to protect their citizens from deceptive and harmful business practices, said Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) and the Republican AGs of 18 other states in an amicus brief Saturday (docket 24-34) at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The brief supports the appeal of Montana AG Austin Knudsen (R) to reverse the district court’s Nov. 20 injunction that blocks him from enforcing SB-419 (see 2312010003).

American Tower, AT&T and T-Mobile “could easily and with minimal cost” take action to modify their facilities to end plaintiff Marcia Haller’s “debilitating symptoms” while allowing her to still use their telecommunications services, alleged Haller's Americans With Disabilities Act complaint Monday (docket 0:24-cv-00877) in U.S. District Court for Minnesota in Duluth.

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.

Marketing firm AddShoppers “illicitly tracks persons across the internet, collects their personal information without consent,” and uses it to send direct solicitations, alleged a Friday class action (docket 2:24-cv-01022) in U.S. District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania in Philadelphia against AddShoppers, Nutrisystem and Vivint.

Crown Castle co-founder Ted Miller’s complaint to invalidate the “cooperation agreement” the Crown Castle board entered into with “activist” investor Elliott Investment Management (see 2402290063) “is without merit,” said the answer Thursday (docket 2024-0176) from 12 defendants, including Crown Castle Chair Robert Bartolo, to the Feb. 27 lawsuit in Delaware Chancery Court.