Ajemian v. Yahoo, Inc.
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
84 N.E.3d 766 (2017)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
John Ajemian died without a will. John had an email account maintained by Yahoo, Inc. (defendant). The account’s terms of service granted Yahoo largely unlimited rights over the contents of John’s emails, including the right to deny anyone access to the account. John’s siblings, Robert Ajemian and Marianne Ajemian (the Ajemians) (plaintiffs), were appointed as John’s personal representatives after his death. The Ajemians sought access to John’s email account. Yahoo denied access on the ground that granting such access was prohibited by the Stored Communications Act (SCA). The Ajemians brought an action in probate court seeking access. Yahoo filed a motion for summary judgment based on the account’s terms of service and on the SCA. The probate court denied Yahoo’s motion for summary judgment on terms-of-service grounds because material issues of fact existed as to the enforceability of the terms of service. The probate court granted Yahoo’s motion for summary judgment on SCA grounds. The Ajemians appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Lenk, J.)
Concurrence/Dissent (Gants, C.J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 811,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
