The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' broad interpretation of laws against abetting terrorism would mean any provider of goods or services -- from banks to airlines -- could be held liable for treble damages if a terrorist patronized their businesses, said Twitter, Google and Facebook in briefs filed Tuesday in docket 21-1496 in their U.S. Supreme Court appeal of the ruling, Twitter v. Taamneh. “The Ninth Circuit embraced an atextual and boundless conception of ‘knowingly providing substantial assistance,’” said Google and Facebook in a joint filing. “That is not a tenable scope of liability,” said Twitter in a separate filing.

Comcast’s Xfinity Mobile (XM) seeks expedited discovery in its complaint to thwart illegal trafficking in stolen phones (see 2211170061), said its motion Tuesday (docket 2:22-cv-01950]) in U.S. District Court for Arizona. XM especially seeks permission to serve nonparty subpoenas because certain nonparties “have significant evidence relevant to this case that they are otherwise under no duty to preserve and may destroy pursuant to their corporate document retention policies,” said the motion.

T-Mobile and Crown Castle, the lessee and subtenant, respectively, in a long-standing cell tower lease agreement in Albuquerque, are locked in a dispute with the property owner over Crown Castle’s inability to upgrade the tower for Dish Network’s 5G network buildout, alleged the companies in a complaint Monday (docket 1:22-cv-00910) in U.S. District Court for New Mexico. The defendant property owner, Academy Medical Office, “actively obstructed” the companies’ efforts “to obtain a permit from the municipality that is necessary to complete certain work” at the facility, said the complaint.

Fourteen cellular partnerships filed breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty suits against AT&T and several subsidiaries in Delaware Chancery Court in relation to a decade-long court case over cellular partnerships, said multiple filings Monday.

Federal court review of the Maryland digital ad tax’s pass-through ban could soon be dismissed without prejudice. Expect a ruling “very promptly,” said U.S. District Court for Northern Maryland Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby at a virtual motions hearing Tuesday. Griggsby signaled she was inclined to rule the case moot due to a recent state court decision striking down the tax (see 2210240064). Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh (D) appealed that ruling to the state’s Special Appeals Court, said a notice last week at the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County (case C-02-CV-21-000509).

Multiple allegations “strongly support” the conclusion that defendants in the litigation involving accusations of insider trading of Intelsat stock knew of and possessed material nonpublic information (MNPI) “at the time they traded,” said lead plaintiff Walleye Group in its second amended class action Monday (docket 4:20-cv-02341) in U.S. District Court for Northern California in Oakland.

Masimo and its Cercacor Labs subsidiary went too far in their proposed final judgment and permanent injunction against former Chief Technology Officer Marcelo Lamego when they sought to prevent Lamego and his company, True Wearables, from keeping certain confidential documents, said their objections Monday (docket 8:18-cv-02001) in U.S. District Court for Central California in Santa Ana.

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.

Chinese companies appear likely to take the FCC to court with the commissioners approving, as expected, a draft order to further clamp down on gear from Chinese companies, preventing the sale of yet-to-be authorized equipment in the U.S. The order, circulated by FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel Oct. 5, bans FCC authorization of gear from companies including Huawei, ZTE, Hytera Communications, Hikvision and Dahua Technology.

The Supreme Court should deny the tech industry’s attempt to throw out Florida’s entire social media content moderation law, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody (R) argued last week before the high court in docket 22-393 (see 2210280049).