[Lawsuit dropped] FlightAware sues Kalshi over flight cancellation data

[Texac]

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.

There should have been some form of rules on these predictions websites already, it's why they are facing this problems right now, right from the first day some rules should have been prepared for prediction markets.

It's why some politicians were able to make money knowing the outcome of every predictions fully well, prediction market was never planned well and I figured that's the fault from the government, they let them exists because they also have a plan to benefit too.

Prediction market should definitely have stricter and clearer rule when it comes to insider information. If you are involved in making any political decision. Or have access to information that has not been made public yet then betting on that outcome gives you unfair advantage. That person has an advantage that other market participant simply cannot have.

In my opinion, there is certain parallel here with stock market. If a corporate insider is not allowed to use material non public info to trade stock then there is a logical question, why should politician, govt official or company employee be allowed to use similar non public information to make practically guaranteed profit on prediction market?

[Davidvictorson]

~ snip~

When I first read this, I was like ...hold up... it may be a case of
1. Kalshi using their data and not sharing any financial gains from it
2. It is completely against the principles of their organization...what they stand for and their values.

Whichever be the case, they have settled out of court and other prediction market would borrow a leaf from this too incase they want to use an organization's data without their permission.
Desperately curious to know what they settled on ...I which I could get some insights.

[Gozie51]

Settling out of court was the best thing if you ask me but I really don't see much reasons why the flight company should take the very serious since it had no direct effect on its business except it does because if it was just about people betting on if a certain flight will be cancelled or not, then I don't think it was worth taking the case to court but since they already said, they've warned the kalshi over this very issue then it's justifiable to take the to court and I believe all related predictions about FlightAware will be take down and serious by Kalshi this time.

It is a very serious matter for a business company like that to say you want to bet that they would cancel their flight schedule on a particular day. And, it is even worse if the prediction comes through, of course customers won't take them serious as a transport company. Every passenger want to get their schedule booked and completed to their destination and no unnecessary delays apart from maintenance or weather issues. But, if you start keeping customers delayed and or disappointed, you are definitely running the business down. That is why FlightAware didn't take it likely. They immediately filled for breach of contract and trademark right. This made Kashi to retrace its step and made a substitution of name to Primary Source Agent.

Notably, at least one event contract showed that Kalshi had changed its language from “FlightAware“ to “Primary Source Agency” as the entity responsible for verifying data related to the outcome of flight cancellations, including that the trade did not “indicate an endorsement of this product or any affiliation” between FlightAware and Kalshi. Primary Source Agency linked to FlightAware’s website.

https://www.tradingview.com/news/cointelegraph:aef61595e094b:0-flightaware-drops-kalshi-lawsuit-one-day-after-filing/

[acroman08]

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.

Yeah, this is what most likely happened. I mean, Kalshi was using FlightAware's data and name without their permission. Kalshi's lawyers probably advised them to settle out of court to not drag out a losing case, it would be stupid of them if they let it continue to court.

[TypoTonic]

FlightAware claims its intellectual property rights have been violated... Okay... But what intellectual property are representatives of this organization talking about?

It was probably over the unauthorized use of their name, since "FlightAware" is a registered trademark of FlightAware LLC. It was also mentioned in their AeroAPI Personal License Agreement that the data can't be used by any business for profit, or in connection with gambling, prediction markets, etc.. Kalshi had a Personal AeroAPI license (which by the way is for personal or academic purposes only), so they were basically bound to this agreement.

This organization simply collects publicly available radio signals!

If you think this is so easy to do, why don't you start one?
Oh wait, you need millions in equipment and hundred of poeple working for that!

Right, they don't simply "collect the publicly available radio signals". Out of over 40,000 physical receivers that feeds ADS-B data to their server, they own and operate a portion of it across hundreds of airports around the world.

Customers value the speed and accuracy of FlightAware’s data collected from a variety of sources that are augmented with both public data and FlightAware’s own ADS-B network. FlightAware invests heavily in compiling, evaluating, and aggregating the data through its proprietary process before securely providing it to customers and the public. Out of FlightAware’s 90 employees working to support, maintain, and expand FlightAware’s network, FlightAware employs 75 software engineers, data analysts, IT infrastructure engineers, and other technicians to facilitate this process.

FlightAware LLC v. Kalshi Inc. et al, Docket No. 1:26-cv-06824 (S.D.N.Y. Aug 10, 2026), Court Docket

Anyway, settling this out of court was Kalshi's best option. They are already facing other major lawsuits, so they probably wanted to avoid any more if possible.

[Somegory]

FlightAware got what they wanted, maybe that's even why they make noise in the first place, who knows? If they are really pissed this case wouldn't get solved out of court or before court.

It's not my fight but I hate the fact that they settled this way, I wanted more because prediction markets are annoying and they do just as they pleased.

In the end it's all about money, the majority reason why this world turned into a chaotic one today, anyways, I hope Kalshi used the pls word to avoid another lawsuit lol, but I believe it's not over.

[gracreavix]

FlightAware got what they wanted, maybe that's even why they make noise in the first place, who knows? If they are really pissed this case wouldn't get solved out of court or before court.

It's not my fight but I hate the fact that they settled this way, I wanted more because prediction markets are annoying and they do just as they pleased.

In the end it's all about money, the majority reason why this world turned into a chaotic one today, anyways, I hope Kalshi used the pls word to avoid another lawsuit lol, but I believe it's not over.

It's kind of odd FlightAware dropped the case so quickly. I won't be quick to assume they got what they want. What if they were threatened or some other factor made them dropped the case. Who knows?

But another angle Is that, what if the dispute is still very much alive? It may arise again in the nearest future. Something somewhere may have occurred behind the scene.

[coinrifft]

FlightAware got what they wanted, maybe that's even why they make noise in the first place, who knows? If they are really pissed this case wouldn't get solved out of court or before court.

It's not my fight but I hate the fact that they settled this way, I wanted more because prediction markets are annoying and they do just as they pleased.

In the end it's all about money, the majority reason why this world turned into a chaotic one today, anyways, I hope Kalshi used the pls word to avoid another lawsuit lol, but I believe it's not over.

Oh well, I also thought that they will go all in against Kalshi. But I guess everyone has it's price and so FlighAware dropped it. Might be their biggest settlement so far but then again, Kalshi can make that money very quick as their market is growing and it's getting better.

However, this could set a number of cases against Kalshi to be drop as well if they are just going to throw money against those who filed cases. It could be bad for them as it could a lead a way for others to do the same and then collect easy money.

[Fiatless]

FlightAware got what they wanted, maybe that's even why they make noise in the first place, who knows? If they are really pissed this case wouldn't get solved out of court or before court.

It's not my fight but I hate the fact that they settled this way, I wanted more because prediction markets are annoying and they do just as they pleased.

In the end it's all about money, the majority reason why this world turned into a chaotic one today, anyways, I hope Kalshi used the pls word to avoid another lawsuit lol, but I believe it's not over.

This case is over since both parties have officially confirmed that the case has been dropped. Kalshi might have made a commitment not to use FlightAware's data anymore. It is also possible that Kalshi has gotten permission and would have to pay a certain sum. The U.S. ​flight cancellation contract in Kalshi for the week ending August 14 ​remained available on the prediction market website, although FlightAware is no longer named as the source.

[OsaiEmma]

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

Well, Flightaware is looking for profit making afterall. Using public provided data is not illegal; I think for the fact that Kalshi is using it for a whole different business brand or model in an unexpected way is what actually bugged them. If they wanted to make profit from it, they should've put a price tag on the data.

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.

"Trademark infringement" what a load of bs! Trademark infringement on a publicly available data? They just came up with that idea with a bunch of lawyers to get money out of them. Although if they go to court, I don't know what the outcome would've been, but this is just a ploy to extort money from Kalshi.

I heard all it took for FlightAware to dismiss the case was for kalshi to change the brand reference; this shows it was just a weak case.

[KTChampions]

Well, Flightaware is looking for profit making afterall. Using public provided data is not illegal; I think for the fact that Kalshi is using it for a whole different business brand or model in an unexpected way is what actually bugged them. If they wanted to make profit from it, they should've put a price tag on the data.

The Kalshi used the information that Flightaware distributed for free, right? I see no reason why Kalshi should have paid anything here. In fact, this is yet another example of how legal relations in the digital age need to be seriously reconsidered. There will always be some bastard (in this case, Flightaware) who distributes data/service supposedly "for free", but the whole point of their "free" actions is to destroy the market and become a monopolist to milk everyone who uses their data/service. First of all, I would like regulators to destroy such cunning bastards. Ideally, of course, regulators shouldn't interfere at all, and then Kalshi would simply tell Flightaware to fuck off and continue using their data.

[Smartprofit]

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.

FlightAware dropped the case because Kalshi already revised their cancelation flight market by changing the source of their information. They're still using FlightAware to verify their market, but it's now getting mentioned as their primary source agent. They're no longer blatantly saystheir flight cancelation market tied to the flight aware directly.

This is why after this loophole is fixed, Flightaware is deciding to drop their case because Kalshi has done what they have been demanding.

Yes, Kalshi's lawyers did a poor job... They framed the bet terms as if FlightAware were their business partner. This exposed their company to attacks from FlightAware's lawyers. The trademark is protected by US law. 🙋

However, FlightAware does not own any intellectual property rights to the flight cancellation information. That's why, after removing the reference to FlightAware from the bet terms, the case was dismissed by mutual consent. Kalshi continues to use this information in its business and no longer bears any legal risk.

A company's labor costs alone do not constitute proof of intellectual property creation. Not to mention that, as far as I understand, FlightAware actively relies on volunteer labor in its operations.💁

[tread93]

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.

Yes its a good thing that they were able to settle this probably in arbitration they probably agreed to pay some kind of fine or whatever or to take down certain info or to stop allowing people to place such bets on this kind of flight information they they pulled using their site. Perhaps it is a good thing that this didn’t go to the courts for the good of the industry as this could have gotten ugly!

[Emitdama]

FlightAware dropped the case because Kalshi already revised their cancelation flight market by changing the source of their information. They're still using FlightAware to verify their market, but it's now getting mentioned as their primary source agent. They're no longer blatantly saystheir flight cancelation market tied to the flight aware directly.

This is why after this loophole is fixed, Flightaware is deciding to drop their case because Kalshi has done what they have been demanding.

Yes, Kalshi's lawyers did a poor job... They framed the bet terms as if FlightAware were their business partner. This exposed their company to attacks from FlightAware's lawyers. The trademark is protected by US law. 🙋

However, FlightAware does not own any intellectual property rights to the flight cancellation information. That's why, after removing the reference to FlightAware from the bet terms, the case was dismissed by mutual consent. Kalshi continues to use this information in its business and no longer bears any legal risk.

A company's labor costs alone do not constitute proof of intellectual property creation. Not to mention that, as far as I understand, FlightAware actively relies on volunteer labor in its operations.💁

I am not sure what this gains Kelshi, but the reality is that we shouldn't have seen this to begin with. FlightAware isn't really responsible towards Kalshi at all; they do not have to provide this.

They are not partners alike you said; they are not responsible or even forced to share that info, and if they do not want to, they do not have to. They provide a service to the world, and just like any service, there could be issues; hell, we get electricity cuts and internet breakups all the time, doesn't mean we can sue them, it can never be 100% open all the time, 99% maybe, but never 100%, that would be impossible.