The FTC will appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Tuesday’s decision by the U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Francisco to deny the agency’s motion for a preliminary injunction to block Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard buy from proceeding to its completion, said the agency’s notice of appeal Wednesday (docket 3:23-cv-02880). The appeal was docketed Thursday as case number 23-15992.

Plaintiff Ritha Fulmore moved the court to consolidate 10 privacy class actions against Dish Network in U.S. District Court for Colorado in Denver. The Wednesday motion (docket 1:23-cv-01556) includes subsequently filed related actions or cases filed involving similar facts or claims involving the company’s alleged failure to secure plaintiffs’ personally identifiable data in February data breach (see 2306230007).

U.S. District Court Judge Brantley Starr granted EDN Global’s motion for consideration to file a first amended complaint (FAC) in its breach of contract lawsuit (docket 3:23-cv-00355) against AT&T, said his Tuesday order in U.S. District Court for Northern Texas in Dallas. Plaintiffs articulated a non-conclusory reason it’s necessary -- “to base the complaint on Texas law” -- Starr’s order said. In a separate order, he found "moot" AT&T’s motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim.

Office Depot removed to U.S. District Court for Northern Oklahoma in Tulsa a class action filed May 24 in Tulsa County District Court in which plaintiff Teresa Brown alleges the retailer unlawfully sends telemarketing text messages to numerous individuals in violation of the Oklahoma Telephone Solicitation Act (OTSA) that was enacted last year. Office Depot denies it has any liability to Brown or the class she seeks to represent, and denies she or the putative class members are entitled to recover the relief requested, said its notice of removal Wednesday (docket 4:23-cv-00287).

The complaint from Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin (R) alleging TikTok is violating the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act by duping Arkansas citizens about the risks of using TikTok belongs back in Union County Circuit Court, said Griffin’s reply brief Tuesday (docket 1:23-cv-01038) in U.S. District Court for Western Arkansas in El Dorado in support of his motion to remand (see 2306090047). The case originated in the circuit court before TikTok removed it to federal court.

Plaintiff Jane Doe’s May 15 class action “raises understandable concerns about nefarious companies” that steal sensitive user data, and then profit from selling or sharing that data, said Qualtrics’ motion Monday (docket 2:23-cv-00718) in U.S. District Court for Western Washington in Seattle to dismiss her complaint for failure to state a claim. But her concerns “don’t apply to Qualtrics, as her own complaint demonstrates,” said the motion.

Google’s revised privacy policy “purports to give it ‘permission’ to take anything shared online” to train and improve its artificial intelligence (AI) products, including personal and copyrighted information, said a class action Tuesday (docket 3:23-cv-03440) in U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Francisco.

The FCC’s July 3 opposition to Gerald Parks' March 22 mandamus petition wrongly argues that the U.S. Appeals Court for the D.C. Circuit lacks jurisdiction to grant Parks his requested relief because the FCC’s Media Bureau canceled his license for AM radio broadcast station WEKC Williamsburg, Kentucky, in August 2020 (see 2307050035), said Parks’ reply Tuesday (docket 23-1078). But Parks' license remains very much in effect while his 2012 renewal application remains pending, said the reply.

A plaintiff in a negligence lawsuit against MOVEit file transfer software parent company Progress Software Corp. (PSC) moved to transfer (MDL No. 3083) 10 related actions in the May 28 data breach to U.S. District Court for Minnesota, said a Friday filing with the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation.

The Maryland Supreme Court couldn't allow Comcast and Verizon to circumvent state legislative intent to resolve tax disputes through the administrative remedy process, Chief Justice Matthew Fader said Wednesday on the ISPs' challenge to the state's digital ad tax. The state’s high court released an opinion explaining its May 9 decision to overturn a Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County ruling that the tax is unconstitutional. The companies should have challenged the tax in the Maryland Tax Court, an expert administrative agency, before seeking judicial review, Fader said.