Washington – The Computer & Communications Industry Association has filed an amicus brief in support of Apple Inc. in Apple v. Epic. The Supreme Court recently agreed to hear the case. The issue involves whether the district court correctly found Apple in contempt for violating the so-called “spirit” of a court order even where the conduct at issue did not violate any explicit prohibition in the order.
In the brief, CCIA, SIIA, and NetChoice pointed out that this “spirit” of the injunction test runs counter to the law of other Circuits – and federal law generally – and also makes it difficult to assess when a company has violated an injunction, because it is unclear what the “spirit” of an order would actually require.
The amici tell the Justices that applying a text-based standard for injunctive relief is of interest to tech associations representing a range of companies that use such injunctions when seeking to challenge unconstitutional and otherwise unlawful regulations.
The following can be attributed to CCIA President & CEO Matt Schruers:
“This is a dispute about certainty. Court orders should not leave the public guessing about a judge’s intentions. If they do, it is not a party’s responsibility to divine the court’s intent. This is particularly important for injunctions affecting protected speech and editorial curation, which is protected by the First Amendment.”
