Tag archives: Google

A two pronged prescription: The FDA releases new social media guidelines

By Jay Greathouse (US) on July 16, 2014 Posted in Social media policies

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) released two new sets of guidance regarding the use of social media to disseminate information about prescription drugs and medical devices. This guidance supplements years of FDA warning letters and untitled letters sent to manufacturers, packers or distributors in regulated industries (each a “Regulated Entity”). We have previously discussed … Continue reading

Do you “like” it?

By Daniel Daniele (CA) on May 5, 2014 Posted in Security, Social media policies

From clicking “like” on Facebook to the +1 button on Google+ to the “Follow” or “Retweet” buttons on Twitter, the use of endorsements in social media has exploded since 2009. “Like” buttons and retweeting are growing trends in social media. While the use of third-party endorsement type functionality in social media has obvious benefits in … Continue reading

A Retrospective of Social Media Law Blog

By Norton Rose Fulbright Patents on January 9, 2014 Posted in General

It’s been a full year since we launched the Social Media Law blog, and we thought it was a good time to take a moment to review: General Counsel use of social media continues to grow at an impressive rate Our Social Media Law blog has had visitors from 15 countries around the world The … Continue reading

Social media part 3: leveraging social media data analytics to improve M&A

By NRF Digital Team on November 8, 2013 Posted in General

Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google+,Tumblr, Slideshare… The catalogue of popular social networking sites continues to grow as more and more consumers – both individual and corporate – sign-up by the millions. But how can social media be used to bolster M&A? In addition to the fairly obvious answer that social media can be … Continue reading

Social media part 2: the proof is in the data analytics

By NRF Digital Team on November 7, 2013 Posted in General

Part 1 of our series on social media looked at how new technologies have started infiltrating the M&A landscape. But the question we aim to answer here is: to what end? A recent article in the Wall Street Journal considered just that, noting that new technologies – and specifically data analytic technologies – can be used at various stages throughout the … Continue reading

Social media part 1: how technology is changing M&A

By NRF Digital Team on November 6, 2013 Posted in General

Earlier this year, the MIT Sloan Management Review published a research report summarizing the findings of its global executive study on social business. The study canvassed 2,545 respondents from 25 industries and 99 countries, all of whom were involved in corporate development decisions at their respective organizations. The aim of the study was to determine how new technologies have … Continue reading

Wearable devices merge reality and social media

By Maya Medeiros on October 25, 2013 Posted in Patent

Wearable computing devices, such as Google Glass (i.e., glasses integrated with a computing device), are expected to explode in popularity. Currently, wearable computing devices have generally limited social media application, but that may soon change. In October 2013, Google was granted a US patent that highlights several possible social media applications for wearable devices, such … Continue reading

Corporate Governance: Cyber Security Issues (Part II)

By Jay Greathouse (US) on September 6, 2013 Posted in Security, Social media policies

There are three distinct aspects of cyber-security that should be addressed by directors: prevention, detection and, if a company is publicly traded, disclosure to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Part I of our posting addressed prevention and detection matters. This Part II addresses disclosures and some questions to consider. Disclosure Public disclosure of a security … Continue reading

Corporate Governance: Cyber Security Issues (Part I)

By Jay Greathouse (US) on September 4, 2013 Posted in Security, Social media policies

The use of cloud computing, mobile devices and social media add significant corporate risks beyond the traditional security risks arising from networks, databases and e-mail. A cyber security breach can cause serious operational disruptions, create financial costs and damage a company’s brand and reputation. As part of risk management, a company’s board of directors should … Continue reading

Social media companies adopt alternative patent models

By Maya Medeiros on August 16, 2013 Posted in Patent, Social media policies

Social media companies are increasingly involved in patent lawsuits and frustration is setting in. Hoping to inspire change within the industry, a number of companies have adopted alternative patent policies. While these alternative models are based on the social good of sharing innovation with a promise to use patents only as a defensive shield and … Continue reading

Shared Social Media Accounts

By James Leito IV (US) on August 15, 2013 Posted in Employment and labor

A court in the Eastern District of Texas recently held that two companies were “integrated employers” under the Family Medical Leave Act, in part, because the two companies shared a Facebook page. Dooling v. Bank of the West, No. 4:11-cv-00576 (E.D. Tex. July 17, 2013) (Bush, Mag. J.). This conclusion allowed the plaintiff to establish her … Continue reading

The Rise of the #Hashtag

By Daniel Daniele (CA) on July 17, 2013 Posted in Defamation, Trademark

Every day, hundreds of millions of people use social media to share their thoughts about everything that is happening around them. The most popular social media sites do not have simple ways to search for and organize content, so users turned to the hashtag to solve the problem. Hashtags are words or phrases prefixed with the … Continue reading

Copyright Safe Harbor for Third-Party Content

By Seth Jaffe (US) on July 16, 2013 Posted in Copyright

Title II of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) provides a safe harbor for online service providers that allow users to self-post content. For companies with Web 2.0 enabled sites, 17 U.S.C. § 512(c) limits liability “for infringement of copyright by reason of the storage at the direction of a user.” But this safe harbor … Continue reading

Social Media Service, Minors, and Photos

By Susan Ross (US) on July 12, 2013 Posted in COPPA, Privacy, Security

On July 10, 2013, U.S. Representative John Duncan (R-Tenn.) and co-sponsor Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) introduced H.R. 2645, the “Forbidding Advertisement Through Child Exploitation Act of 2013.” The stated purpose of this short bill is to “prohibit providers of social media services from using self-images uploaded by minors for commercial purposes.” Under the bill, a “social … Continue reading

Social Media and Anti-SLAPP Cases

By James Leito IV (US) on June 14, 2013 Posted in Defamation

In a recent defamation case where the defendant sought anti-SLAPP protection related to internet forum posts about the plaintiffs, a federal district court recognized that social-media speech is no different from “traditional” speech. See Piping Rock Partners, Inc. v. David Lerner Assocs., Inc., No. C 12-04634 SI (N.D. Cal. May 17, 2013) (Illston, J.). “SLAPP” is an … Continue reading

Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986

By Seth Jaffe (US) on May 13, 2013 Posted in Privacy

The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (“ECPA”) prohibits interception of “any wire, oral, or electronic communication.” 18 U.S.C. § 2511. Electronic communication is defined as “any transfer of signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, data, or intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photo-electronic or photo-optical system.” 18 U.S.C. … Continue reading

ECPA Reform Bill adds geolocation provisions

By Seth Jaffe (US) on May 13, 2013 Posted in Privacy

Congress woman Zoe Lofgren recently introduced a bill intending to align the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 with the current state of technology, especially with respect to cloud computing. The Online Communications and Geolocation Protection Act, backed by tech companies such as Google, Apple, Microsoft, Intel, Twitter, eBay and Amazon, intends to clarify and apply … Continue reading

Viacom v. YouTube

By Susan Ross (US) on April 22, 2013 Posted in Copyright

On April 18, 2013, a federal district court judge again granted summary judgment in favor of YouTube in a copyright infringement lawsuit originally filed by Viacom, Paramount Pictures, and others in 2007. Viacom Int’l Inc. v. YouTube, Inc., No 1:07-cv-02103-LLS (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 18, 2013). The plaintiffs had claimed that YouTube had infringed their copyrighted movies, television … Continue reading

The NLRB and employer social media policies

By Heather Sherrod (US) on April 15, 2013 Posted in Employment and labor, Social media policies

The highly respected Pew Center recently released its demographic data on social media usage. The data shows that regardless of age, race, sex, education, or income, well over half of the adults in the United States who use the internet, use social media. It is therefore reasonable that employers would formally address their expectations of … Continue reading

SEC approves social media for company announce- ments if investors are alerted

By Josh Pleitz on April 5, 2013 Posted in Social media policies

On April 2, 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) issued a report (the “Report”) indicating that companies can use social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, to announce key information in compliance with Regulation Fair Disclosure (“Regulation FD”), provided that investors have been informed of which social media outlet will be used to … Continue reading

Computer Fraud and Abuse Act

By Seth Jaffe (US) on March 28, 2013 Posted in Fraud

The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”), 18 U.S.C. § 1030 et seq., projects the common law tort of real property trespass into the virtual realm of computers. The CFAA has been successfully invoked for creation of fake user accounts on social network sites, email spam, email phishing, robotic data mining, and unauthorized hard-drive wiping. … Continue reading

Owning your social media: Drafting a social media use policy

By Jay Greathouse (US) and Heather Sherrod (US) on March 4, 2013 Posted in Social media policies

As more companies recognize the brand value created and sustained through social media, there is greater interest in preserving social media accounts for company use and retaining the follower, member or “friend” base that has been built over time. Simultaneously, an increasing number of employees believe that the social media accounts are not company property … Continue reading