Many brand owners use their websites to promote their goods and services, as well as to promote their brands. Brand owners also frequently use social media to promote their brands. Indeed, it’s common for a website to include links to social media platforms such as Twitter and Pinterest. But if your site is directed to children, … Continue reading
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Despite the variety of legal recourse available to copyright owners, exclusive rights to creative content posted in the Twittersphere can sometimes be difficult to enforce and defend. Complications due to social media websites’ frequently-changing terms of service and viral gossip such as Facebook’s recent “copyright hoax” can leave the copyright owner doubting the strength of … Continue reading
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (“CDA”), otherwise known as § 230 Safe Harbor, explains that “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.” 47 U.S.C.A. § 230(c)(1). In addition, § 230 precludes liability for providers … Continue reading
Companies of every size are concerned with protecting the reputation of the company, which is often a company’s greatest source of referrals. Protecting the online reputation of a company has become increasingly difficult because the reputation of a company can be ruined very quickly if an unhappy customer, former employee, or competitor of the company … Continue reading
An employee’s personal social media page may offer prospective hackers a backdoor into company protected information. Many companies are moving towards lengthy and complex passwords, which has placed additional strain on password recovery procedures. Many of these “forgot password” security procedures ask for pseudo personal information such as a user’s high school mascot or mother’s … Continue reading
Austin-based cleaning company Austin Gutter King Corporation, Inc. made headline news in Texas this week by filing a lawsuit against the poster of a negative review of its business on Google Places, the search engine’s business listing and review website. The review originally came from a user named “Norma Lee,” but a court-ordered request from … Continue reading
Social media has led to some new forms of intellectual property, including the “Twitter follower” (a registered user of microblogging site Twitter that is interested in the postings of another user and that other user permits him/her to receive those postings automatically). A case that might have brought some clarity to the question of the value … Continue reading
In an “effort to be as transparent as possible regarding the removal or restriction of access to user posted content,” social media company Twitter recently announced changes to the site’s Copyright and Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) policy. Instead of merely removing the potentially infringing tweets without explanation, Twitter will now clearly mark Tweets and … Continue reading
It seems axiomatic that social media users can be held accountable for making false, misleading, defamatory, or libelous statements in a Facebook post or Twitter “tweet.” This fact is well-illustrated by a number of high-profile lawsuits (none of which have yet gone to trial) brought by individuals against Twitter users, including the recent lawsuits threatened … Continue reading
On November 15, 2012, the National Labor Relations Board again rejected an employer’s social media policy because it could be construed to chill employees’ rights to join together for mutual aid and protection. Dish Network’s employee handbook banned employees from making “disparaging or defamatory comments” about the company. Relying on the NLRB’s recent decision invalidating … Continue reading
OpenID is an third-party identification protocol that allows users to log on to multiple websites with only one username and password. Users register with one OpenID website, called an Identity Provider. The user can then log on to any website that accepts OpenID using the identity from the provider. The “OpenID Acceptor,” as it is … Continue reading