Airbnb Wins Court Order Blocking Parts of Boston Ordinance

Airbnb Inc. has succeeded in blocking, at least for now, some of Boston’s new short-term rental rules.

The city of Boston largely conceded that the ordinance violates the Communications Decency Act of 1996 by requiring that booking agents like Airbnb remove ineligible listings and unregistered hosts, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts said May 3.

And the city “all but admitted” that it can’t force Airbnb to give it information about how many nights a rental unit is booked without violating the Fourth Amendment, the court said.

Airbnb is likely to succeed on those claims and is ...