California’s “Actually Viewed” Defense Just Died in Data Breach Cases

Horst Legal CounselBusiness Litigation, California Regulatory Law, Digital Law

If your company handles other people’s sensitive data through a software vendor, two questions are now urgent. First, can you still rely on the longstanding California defense that says no liability attaches unless an unauthorized party actually viewed the data? And second, when a vendor sits between you and the end users whose information was exposed, who exactly has the …

California Court of Appeal Blesses Santa Barbara’s Move to Turn Disney+ Into a Local Tax Collector

Horst Legal CounselAppellate Law, Digital Law, tax law

When a city decides to tax streaming, the first reaction from many platforms is: you can’t really treat us like cable… can you? In Disney Platform Distribution v. City of Santa Barbara (B342211, Dec. 17, 2025, 2d Dist., Div. 6), the Court of Appeal said yes. It upheld Santa Barbara’s 5.75% video users tax as applied to Disney+, Hulu, and …