Ryan Spear

La'Tiejira v. Facebook, Inc.

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
Represented Facebook in a lawsuit in which the plaintiff alleged various claims based on user-generated content and, in addition, sought a declaration that the Communications Decency Act (CDA) is unconstitutional. Obtained dismissal of plaintiff’s claims, with prejudice, under the CDA and the Texas Citizens Participation Act (Texas anti-SLAPP statute). Also obtained order awarding attorneys’ fees to Facebook.

Caraccioli v. Facebook, Inc.

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
Represented Facebook in a lawsuit alleging breach of contract, unfair competition, and various torts based on user-generated content. Obtained dismissal of plaintiff’s claims, with prejudice, under the Communications Decency Act (CDA) and Facebook’s terms of service. On appeal, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal in its entirety. The Supreme Court recently denied plaintiff’s petition for certiorari.

ICF Technology, Inc. v. Google Inc.

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Successfully represented Google in defense of complaint seeking to force Google to change its search results. The complaint alleged tortious interference, defamation, and violation of the Washington Consumer Protection Act. Obtained denial of motion for temporary restraining order, after which the plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the case.

Defense of Amazon.com, Inc. and Amazon Advertising, LLC in Privacy and Advertising Technology Class Actions 

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Lead litigation counsel for Amazon in three putative class actions challenging the company’s mobile advertising technology practices. Plaintiffs asserted dozens of privacy and consumer-protection claims, including wiretapping claims and the first-ever claim under Washington’s My Health My Data Act (MHMD). Achieved voluntary dismissal of all three cases, with no payment or settlement. 

Defense of Amazon.com, Inc. and Amazon Web Services, Inc. in Class Actions Under the California Invasion of Privacy Act 

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington 
Lead litigation counsel for Amazon and Amazon Web Services in multiple putative class actions alleging violations of the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) in connection with a cloud-based contact center service. All cases were either voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiffs with no payment or settlement or dismissed by the plaintiffs with prejudice following amendments to the complaint that substantially narrowed the scope of the allegations. 

Defense of Amazon.com, Inc. and Amazon Web Services, Inc. In Multiple Putative Class Actions Under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Circuit Court of Illinois, Cook County
Lead litigation counsel for Amazon and Amazon Web Services in several putative class actions alleging violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) in connection with various initiatives, products, and services, including the Rekognition software service. All cases were either dismissed by the courts, voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiffs, or resolved on favorable terms.  

Archer-Hayes v. ToyTalk, Inc., et al.

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
State Superior Court of California
Defended ToyTalk, Inc. (now PullString, Inc.) and Mattel, Inc., in a purported nationwide class action asserting claims for unfair competition, negligence, unjust enrichment, invasion of privacy, and violations of the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) based on allegations that Hello Barbie violated the Children’s Online Protection Privacy Act (COPPA). Following ToyTalk and Mattel’s removal of case to federal court and filing of motions to dismiss and to compel arbitration, the case was voluntarily dismissed with prejudice.

Rudgayzer v. Google Inc., Amalfitano v. Google Inc.

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Represented Google in defense of purported class action challenging previous class-action settlement and alleging claims under the Stored Communications Act (SCA) in connection with the launch of Google Buzz social networking application. Obtained order transferring case from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and successfully defended that order before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. After case was transferred, the district court dismissed plaintiffs’ claims with prejudice and the Ninth Circuit affirmed. The Supreme Court recently denied plaintiff’s petition for certiorari.

Facebook Inc. v. Banana Ads, et al.

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
Represented Facebook in a lawsuit against more than 20 defendants who registered and used domain names incorporating Facebook’s trademarks or deliberate misspellings of Facebook’s trademarks (cybersquatting or typosquatting). Obtained default judgments awarding statutory damages of $2.8 million and requiring transfer of dozens of infringing domain names to Facebook.