5th Circuit Rules Open-Source Code Is Not Property in Tornado Cash Appeal
"As the decision correctly recognizes, the meaning of a statute doesn’t change to fit new contexts; it’s up to Congress to make new law to address new problems," said Judd Littleton, a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell and co-head of the Am Law 100 firm's Supreme Court & appellate practice who is not involved in the matter.
November 27, 2024 at 04:06 PM
5 minute read
What You Need to Know
- The U.S. Department of the Treasury carried out a sanction against Tornado Cash and a federal district court ruled it was lawful.
- The U.S. Fifth Circuit reversed the lower court ruling, characterizing it as “judicial lawmaking.”
- The ruling is a win for Tornado Cash, represented by Paul Weiss, with help from Coinbase Global Inc.
A federal appellate court entered a scathing opinion that rebuked a Texas district court decision, ruling that the U.S. Department of the Treasury “overstepped” its authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act when it sanctioned crypto company Tornado Cash’s immutable smart contracts.
“IEEPA grants the President broad powers to regulate a variety of economic transactions, but its language is not limitless,” U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Judge Don R. Willett ruled in the 34-page opinion on behalf of a three-judge panel. “Mending a statute’s blind spots or smoothing its disruptive effects falls outside our lane. We decline the Department’s invitation to judicial lawmaking—revising Congress’s handiwork under the guise of interpreting it. Legislating is Congress’s job—and Congress’s alone.”
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Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
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