The Newspaper Association of America has filed a first-of-its-kind complaint with the FTC over certain ad blocking technologies.
Is it “Internet” or “internet”? The Associated Press is about to change the capitalization...more
Here’s how Twitter is loosening up its 140-character limit.
The federal government will now check the social media history of prospective employees before granting them security clearance....more
The Great Instagram Logo Freakout of 2016.
A UK council policy reportedly grants its members power to spy on residents by setting up fake Facebook profiles....more
Facebook users spend more time on the platform than they spend pursuing any other leisure activity, except TV. Indeed, 1/16th of the average user’s waking time is spent on the platform.
The most disliked movie trailer in...more
How To Protect Your Company’s Social Media Currency -
Today’s companies compete not only for dollars but also for likes, followers, views, tweets, comments and shares. “Social currency,” as some researchers call it, is...more
4/29/2016
/ Clickwrap Agreements ,
Data Security ,
Digital Single Market ,
EU ,
EU-US Privacy Shield ,
Internet of Things ,
IP License ,
Online Reviews ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Social Media ,
US-EU Safe Harbor Framework
A lawsuit alleges this Snapchat feature is making driving even more dangerous, and it’s not texting or instant messaging.
This state is considering imposing hefty fines on jurors who post information to social media...more
Defense lawyers who checked out the Facebook page of a plaintiff suing their client can be prosecuted for attorney misconduct, New Jersey judge rules...
...more
We’re trying something new here at Socially Aware: In addition to our usual social-media and tech-law analyses and updates, we’re going to end each work week with a list of links to interesting social media stories around the...more
Today’s companies compete not only for dollars but also for likes, followers, views, tweets, comments and shares. “Social currency,” as some researchers call it, is becoming increasingly important and companies are investing...more
3/22/2016
/ Breach of Contract ,
Communications Decency Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing ,
Facebook ,
Google ,
Section 230 ,
Social Media ,
Takedown Notices ,
Terms of Service ,
Young Lawyers ,
YouTube
Welcome to the newest issue of Socially Aware, our Burton Award winning guide to the law and business of social media. In this edition, we offer tips for a successful—and legal—advertising campaign; we examine a New York...more
3/9/2016
/ Advertising ,
B2C ,
Big Data ,
Digital Goods ,
Discovery ,
Discovery Rule ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Internet Retailers ,
Marketing ,
Mobile Apps ,
Native Advertising ,
Social Media ,
Terms and Conditions ,
User-Generated Content
Do the undead read the small print? In our experience, zombies are typically more concerned with fresh brains than with forum selection, but Amazon Web Services (AWS) has helpfully updated its AWS Service Terms for anyone who...more
Three Steps To Help Ensure The Enforceability Of Your Website’s Terms Of Use -
Operators of social media platforms and other websites typically manage their risks by imposing terms of use or terms of service for the...more
1/29/2016
/ Barnes and Noble ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Enforceability ,
Facebook ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Endorsement Guidelines ,
Harassment ,
Instagram ,
Microsoft ,
Online Contracts ,
Reddit ,
Search Warrant ,
Section 5 ,
State Data Breach Notification Statutes ,
Terms of Use ,
Twitter ,
UK ,
Vlog ,
Websites ,
Young Lawyers
Last year, entrepreneurs, companies and courts grappled with questions over content owners’ rights with respect to livestreaming, Yelp reviewers’ anonymity expectations, bankruptcy creditors’ access to business’ Facebook and...more
January is the month when lists—lists of predictions, lists of trends, lists of feats and lists of failures—pervade social media newsfeeds and publications’ headlines. Here at Socially Aware we’re making an annual tradition...more
Amazon’s customer reviews have long been a go-to resource for consumers researching prospective purchases. Unfortunately, fake customer reviews—product critiques commissioned by merchants and manufacturers in an effort to...more
Since its launch in 2011, the social media platform Snapchat has generated its share of negative press, with most of that press in some way related to the very characteristic that, at least initially, helped Snapchat to...more
Five social media law issues to discuss with your clients -
The explosive growth of social media has clients facing legal questions that didn’t even exist a few short years ago. Helping your clients navigate this...more
10/15/2015
/ Anonymity ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Blogging Platforms ,
Browsewrap Agreement ,
Class Action ,
Clickwrap Agreements ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Customer Lists ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Defamation ,
Discovery ,
Discrimination ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employee Training ,
Enforceability ,
EULA ,
Evidence ,
Facebook ,
Facebook Friends ,
False Advertising ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Internal Investigations ,
Job Applicants ,
Mobile Apps ,
Motion to Compel ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Online Endorsements ,
Online Reviews ,
Passwords ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Popular ,
Privacy Policy ,
Protected Class ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
RadioShack ,
Representations and Warranties ,
Screening Procedures ,
Section 5 ,
Social Media ,
Social Media Account Ownership ,
Social Media Policy ,
Subpoenas ,
Terms and Conditions ,
Terms of Use ,
Third-Party ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
Workplace Investigations
Operators of social media platforms and other websites typically manage their risks by imposing terms of use or terms of service for the sites. As we previously wrote, websites must implement such terms properly to ensure...more
10/6/2015
/ Barnes and Noble ,
Browsewrap Agreement ,
Enforceability ,
Facebook ,
Hertz ,
Instagram ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Online Contracts ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Social Media ,
Terms of Service ,
Terms of Use ,
Unilateral Modification ,
Websites
Tale of the tape. The Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), which requires video service providers to destroy personally identifiable information after a specified time, doesn’t provide a private right of action for plaintiffs...more
9/30/2015
/ Data Privacy ,
Data Retention ,
Facebook ,
Facebook Friends ,
First Amendment ,
Netflix ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Social Media Policy ,
Sony ,
Suspensions ,
Video Privacy ,
VPPA ,
Workplace Bullying
The U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire recently struck down on First Amendment grounds a 2014 amendment to New Hampshire Revised Statute 659:35 that made it illegal for New Hampshire voters to post pictures...more
Social networking platforms have long faced the difficult task of balancing the desire to promote freedom of expression with the need to prevent abuse and harassment on their sites. One of social media’s greatest challenges...more
9/1/2015
/ Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Consent ,
Cyberbullying ,
Facebook ,
Google ,
Harassment ,
Instagram ,
Internet Privacy ,
Reddit ,
Social Media ,
Social Networks ,
Terms of Use ,
Twitter
As the number of social media platforms continues to grow, users’ online activity is becoming increasingly divided, requiring social media companies to prove to potential advertisers that they not only have a lot of...more
Websites sometimes present their terms of use (“TOU”) to users merely by including a link to those TOU on the website without requiring users to affirmatively accept the terms by, for example, checking a box or clicking an “I...more
8/17/2015
/ Browsewrap Agreement ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
False Advertising ,
Fraud ,
Mobile Apps ,
Notice Requirements ,
Popular ,
Software ,
Terms of Use ,
Websites ,
Young Lawyers
In a precedent-setting ruling, the Washington Court of Appeals in Thomson v. Doe refused to grant a motion to compel brought by a defamation plaintiff who had subpoenaed the lawyer-review site Avvo.com seeking the identity of...more
Welcome to the newest issue of Socially Aware, our Burton Award winning guide to the law and business of social media. In this edition, we present a “grand unifying theory” of today’s leading technologies and the legal...more
7/29/2015
/ Advertising ,
Consumer Bankruptcy ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Creditors ,
Data Collection ,
Data Storage Providers ,
Digital Assets ,
Discovery ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Evidence ,
Facebook ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hashtags ,
HBO ,
Live Streaming ,
Marketing ,
Online Reviews ,
Retail Tracking ,
Sanctions ,
Showtime ,
Social Media ,
Spoliation ,
Trademarks ,
Twitter ,
Yelp