[Lawsuit dropped] FlightAware sues Kalshi over flight cancellation data

[Oshosondy]

This is not about a country or states regulations related to prediction market, this is the reason I posted this as a topic. If you want to post anything related to countries or states regarding prediction markets, we have a thread for that already which is this:

Prediction markets legality as gambling or derivative trading platforms, & rules

This is about a company called FlightAware. The company sued Kalshi over flight cancellations data which the company see as trademark infringement. The company said they have warned Kalshi, but Kashi did not listen.

FlightAware, a company that offers real-time status and information about flights globally, filed a lawsuit against Kalshi in a New York federal court over the prediction markets platform using its “data and name to run gambling markets on flight cancellations.”

In a Monday filing in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, the company said that despite repeated demands for Kalshi to stop using its registered trademark and offering bets “verified by FlightAware’s data,” the prediction market has continued to list event contracts based on flight cancellations.

What do you think about the lawsuit?


Lawsuit dropped.

I did not know what happened, but it is possible this has been settled out of court is what I am thinking, but FlightAware did not give any reason he dropped the case.

Flight-tracking company FlightAware withdrew its lawsuit against Kalshi on Tuesday, a day after it filed the suit that accuses the prediction markets giant of using its data and name without its knowledge to host gambling markets on flight cancellations.

The case has been "voluntarily dismissed, without prejudice, against all defendants," lawyers for FlightAware wrote in the latest filing.

All I think is that it is so wise of Kalshi for this case not to reach court.

[Nathrixxx]

I also support this and they are right in doing so, anything they have to do in the name of their branch should be with their awareness, no one is giving them permission to do any form of data infringement upon their platform, is legal that they sue them, if the truly know that what they have done is not wrong, then they should make their appearance at the court and defend themselves on what they have to say.

[Smartprofit]

In my opinion, if Kalshi loses this lawsuit, it will set a very dangerous precedent. 🙋

Prediction platforms certainly have the right to use any publicly available information. The fact that a flight was canceled is an objective fact. What kind of intellectual property protection are we talking about? This is simply ridiculous!

FlightAware simply wants to profit from the new financial market through litigation. Kalshi is a centralized American company, making it easier to attack. Pulling off such a scheme with Polymarket is much more difficult. It has no single governing body.💁

[rdluffy]

And here we go again with yet another controversy in the flight forecast market

FlightAware monetizes flight data, right?
I believe the company has the right not to have its data used for that purpose, and it may also have the right not to be associated with any flight prediction website

I understand the company’s position in this case, and I believe it has a good chance of winning this case

One thing that caught my attention is that this is yet another case where an insider could easily make money off of it
An airline employee might find out about flight cancellations a few minutes in advance and bet on it

[Charles-Tim]

In my opinion, if Kalshi loses this lawsuit, it will set a very dangerous precedent. 🙋

Prediction platforms certainly have the right to use any publicly available information. The fact that a flight was canceled is an objective fact. What kind of intellectual property protection are we talking about? This is simply ridiculous!

FlightAware simply wants to profit from the new financial market through litigation. Kalshi is a centralized American company, making it easier to attack. Pulling off such a scheme with Polymarket is much more difficult. It has no single governing body.💁

FlightAware headquarter is in Houston, Texas which is also in United States. So it is a local dispute. If truly FlightAware contacted Kalshi about the issue and the prediction market is not accepting the warnings, I do not think Kalshi can win the case. If a person or a company want to file an infringement suit, the person or company would make sure he or it has warned several times.

[Hazink]

At least they are not suing and requesting damages from Kalshi. What I see here is that they are trying to protect their own reputation because seeing their data being used on the Kalshi market will give the wrong impression that they are connected to Karshi or granting them access which airlines won't take that likely, customers will also fear for their own safety as long as the data which is being used by Karshi is sourced from FlightAware they have the right to ask them to stop using it especially for any activity they considered unjust.

[Gozie51]

I do not think Kalshi can win the case. If a person or a company want to file an infringement suit, the person or company would make sure he or it has warned several times.

I think FlightAware is possible to have a positive case. Warning someone not to use their data even once can be enough so long there is evidence to show that they were warned with strong words and implications if they continued. So I think this is a matter of reputation that they are trying to protect because using their data for prediction can also be manipulative from the workers or those who have management in-house information, they can easily sell out the information to gamblers or bet on it themselves. If flight delays and or cancellation is confirmed anytime it comes to prediction market, it can drop the reputation of the company because of low customer confidence.

“[T]here was widespread outrage and concern that the markets would incentivize unsafe tactics to impact cancellations, threatening public safety and creating the potential for massive disruption of air travel. Airlines condemned the markets,” said the lawsuit. “And due to Kalshi’s unauthorized use of FlightAware’s data and mark, customers immediately assumed that FlightAware was involved in the scheme.”

We see this is the real fear. If their customers begin to sense intentional act of delay and cancellation, the management may be alleged to be involved. So I believe filing a law suit is already a way to send signal that they are not involved in such a shady deal for personal gain.

[BIT-BENDER]

I don't think I like the way prediction market are arranging their platforms. Check this out https://x.com/i/status/2087208600976453910 now they are bringing a selection where people can prediction on the actions of politicians.
I think the prediction market are setting the selection up for manipulation and can give quick, fast wealth, I am not doubting the mayor of New York integrity but this type of selection can fooster corruption attempts and insiders could financially gain from this.

[acroman08]

They are justified in suing them. I mean, I'm guessing they used FlightAware's data and name without permission, and from what I've read, FlightAware is saying that making a betting market for flight cancellations is also a concern for passenger safety because people who might want to manipulate the result might create threats to the airport or create disturbances or threats on the plane and passengers in order for the flight to be cancelled.

This is just one of those "just because you can bet on it, does not mean you should".

[r_victory]

If there was any kind of infringement and Kalshi used data without the authorization of the company that provides it, they are more than entitled to sue them. I believe Kalshi could have tried to establish a partnership or made a formal request to use this data and avoided these problems, or accepted the company's refusal.

[Smack That Ace]

This is about a company called FlightAware. The company sued Kalshi over flight cancellations data which the company see as trademark infringement. The company said they have warned Kalshi, but Kashi did not listen.

FlightAware's lawsuit does not seem unreasonable to me. It is not the case that Kalshi is only running prediction market. How they are using another company's proprietary data and registered name is a matter to be seen.

However I think data itself is not an exclusive property. And they are using publicly observable flight information. But if their access or use is subject to FlightAware's terms or contractual restriction. Then I think that this matter will not be solved with simple argument of using public information only. FlightAware's current terms also expressly state their trademark as proprietary.

[Cryptomultiplier]

This is not about a country or states regulations related to prediction market, this is the reason I posted this as a topic. If you want to post anything related to countries or states regarding prediction markets, we have a thread for that already which is this:

Prediction markets legality as gambling or derivative trading platforms, & rules

This is about a company called FlightAware. The company sued Kalshi over flight cancellations data which the company see as trademark infringement. The company said they have warned Kalshi, but Kashi did not listen.

FlightAware, a company that offers real-time status and information about flights globally, filed a lawsuit against Kalshi in a New York federal court over the prediction markets platform using its “data and name to run gambling markets on flight cancellations.”

In a Monday filing in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, the company said that despite repeated demands for Kalshi to stop using its registered trademark and offering bets “verified by FlightAware’s data,” the prediction market has continued to list event contracts based on flight cancellations.

What do you think about the lawsuit?

Just like any other lawsuit that businesses do face, this is more of an infringement on intellectual property, contract law and public liability.

Kalshi didn't know using registered business names for their own business violates business ethics and am sure this is an eye opener for them.

Kalshi is on the losing side here and may at the end of judgement, fulfill some amount in fines and or restrictions and learn to conduct their business following the right process next time inorder to avoid a repeat of this situation again.

[Ruttoshi]

Since FlightAware warned Kalshi several times not to use their data for gambling, I believe that they will win the case because Kalshi should have listened.

However, it's the Court that has the final say on who is wrong or right and if FlightAware wins the case, Kalshi will learn in a hard way.

[Porfirii]

Unlike you, I'm not sure about the reasons for the lawsuit to prosper. I am missing fundamental info, especially if the data provided by FlightAware is publicly accessible. Surely for some reason they are not interested in their brand being associated with any prediction market, but if their data are offered in the open, I do not know to what extent a judge can rule in their favour.

In the event that Kalshi relied on data from the National Meteorological Service to determine whether it rains or not, it would be clearer that it would not prosper, but since it is a private company that we are talking about there are reasons for doubt, although, as I say, that does not mean that I would simply agree with them so easily.

[Ayers]

Is Kalshi using legitimately available flight data?
Or using FlightAware's service or data access and trademark in a way that violates their contractual and IP rights?

Actually, how the court sees this distinction will be very interesting.

I personally think they should not attack the concept of prediction market. Rather, it will be more productive for them if they clarify their data ownership and market manipulation rules.

[Alex077]

What do you think about the lawsuit?

I will not completely dismiss the safety angle. If financial incentive is created with flight cancellation then someone can deliberately try to disrupt. Even before this, there have been cases of suspected manipulation around prediction market.

But even here I won't automatically accept all of FlightAware's argument. If Kalshi makes such settlement rule where incident like sabotage or bomb threat or cyberattack or deliberate disruption are excluded then the manipulation risk will be reduced a lot, in my opinion. After pausing broader cancellation contract last month, they brought back much narrower contract. There were safeguards to prevent deliberate disruption.

[uchegod-21]

Prediction platforms certainly have the right to use any publicly available information. The fact that a flight was canceled is an objective fact. What kind of intellectual property protection are we talking about? This is simply ridiculous!

I don't really know much about predictions regarding flights, but one thing that I have never accepted about prediction markets is the possibility of people taking advantage of insider information. Certain information is supposed to remain private. It is ridiculous that a flight company is also involved in this kind of prediction, which means that they can easily influence the outcome for some profits. Passengers are really not safe with these kinds of predictions that expose a lot.

If the flight company is so bent on protecting its intellectual property, then I guess they first started the business of betting on flight updates before it was hijacked. I am not interested in who will eventually win in court, but it will do us good if the government can regulate the activities of prediction markets, especially non-prediction companies who are gradually getting themselves involved in such predictions.

[goldkingcoiner]

In my opinion, if Kalshi loses this lawsuit, it will set a very dangerous precedent. 🙋

Prediction platforms certainly have the right to use any publicly available information. The fact that a flight was canceled is an objective fact. What kind of intellectual property protection are we talking about? This is simply ridiculous!

FlightAware simply wants to profit from the new financial market through litigation. Kalshi is a centralized American company, making it easier to attack. Pulling off such a scheme with Polymarket is much more difficult. It has no single governing body.💁

I also cannot imagine public information like flight times to be copyrightable. Although they are using their data... So the question is do they have something in their Terms of Service which prohibits people from using their data? Who are the exempt parties? Obviously people who buy the tickets aka their customers. But then do the customers have the right to use their data? By the same rights a customer can say the airplane companies are using their data for their own business model...

In a nutshell, this lawsuit is probably going to get thrown out. 

[macson]

What do you think about the lawsuit?

FlightAware had already warned Kalshi to stop including them on their platform, but they ignored the warning and continued to feature FlightAware on the platform. So, it's only natural that FlightAware would take action against Kalshi's behavior. This isn't a trivial matter, it concerns their reputation, as people might start associating FlightAware with things that could negatively impact their reputation. However, whether that lawsuit will be successful or not is uncertain, as Kalshi has numerous lawsuits against them, and they are constantly facing them.

[robelneo]

They just won't stop until there's a ruling preventing them from using companies' data for profit; prediction markets can be exploited, and Kalshi and other similar prediction markets should be policed or restricted to prevent exploitation of other companies' data. The company may be public, but it's open to insider manipulation.
 
They have a battery of lawyers; they should know better than to ignore initial warnings that what they are doing is wrong, instead of challenging them in court, thinking that they have lawyers who can defend their case.