A March 23, 2013 decision from the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey serves as a cautionary tale for litigants. As a result of some arguably poor decisions by the plaintiff and likely miscommunication between the parties regarding access to the plaintiff’s Facebook account, the Court sanctioned the plaintiff for causing his… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: Facebook
Federal Court in Manhattan “Likes” Service of Process via Facebook
Posted in FTC, LitigationOn March 7, 2013, a federal court in Manhattan ruled, in Federal Trade Commission v. PCCare247 Inc., that service via Facebook is an acceptable alternative means of serving court documents on foreign defendants. Although this is a watershed ruling in many respects, in other ways, it is a natural extension of current authority in a… Continue Reading
SEC Offers Guidance on Use of Social Media for Public Disclosure
Posted in SEC, Securities LawOn April 2, 2013, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued guidance in the form of the Report of Investigation under Section 21(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 which indicates that social media channels—such as Twitter and Facebook—could be used by public companies to disseminate material information, without running afoul of Regulation… Continue Reading
More Trouble With Work-Related Social Media Accounts
Posted in Litigation, PrivacyWe have written before about cases involving disputes between employers and employees over work-related social media accounts, but a new case out of Arizona federal court raises issues that appear to be unlike those we have addressed previously. In Castle Megastore Group, Inc. v. Wilson, plaintiff Castle Megastore Group (CMG), a retailer of novelty and… Continue Reading
Can Touting Your New Job on Social Media Sites Violate a Non-Solicitation Agreement?
Posted in LitigationAccording to a federal judge in Oklahoma in Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. v. Cahill, simply sharing information about a new job over social media does not mean that you are inviting former co-workers to come join you in violation of a non-solicitation agreement. On February 12, 2013, U.S. District Court Judge James Payne of the… Continue Reading
A Fistful of Data: Facebook and Profile Technology, Inc. Showdown Over the Right to Use Outdated User Information
Posted in Litigation, PrivacyAs social media matures and users become more concerned about the privacy of the information they publish online, New Zealand-based search engine app company Profile Technology, Inc. and Facebook are engaged in a legal battle stemming from a dispute over the right to use certain user data. The story first came to light in October… Continue Reading
German Court Says Facebook Not Subject to German Law
Posted in LitigationFacebook may be gaining ground in its struggle against German authorities. In a preliminary ruling, the state of Schleswig-Holstein’s Administrative Court has rejected penalties against Facebook Inc. and Facebook Ireland, stating that the social network is not subject to German law. The Schleswig-Holstein state data protection authority (the ULD) started enforcement proceedings against the social… Continue Reading
Decades-Old Japanese Electioneering Law May Get a Web 2.0 Refresh
Posted in AsiaHere at Socially Aware, we report regularly on the difficulties inherent in applying long-established laws to new technologies like social media. An interesting example of this is unfolding in Japan: it concerns a decades-old law that has been interpreted to prohibit candidates, parties, and even the voting public from engaging in most campaign-related activities on… Continue Reading
Watch What You Tweet: Proposed Social Media Guidance for Financial Institutions
Posted in Financial Institutions, PrivacyWith the explosive growth of social media, consumers increasingly expect to be able to interact online with the companies from which they buy goods and services. As a result, financial institutions have begun to explore the use of social media, both to strengthen relationships with existing customers and to attract new ones. Financial institutions, however,… Continue Reading
Socially Aware Looks Back: The Social Media Law Year in Review
Posted in Employment Law, Litigation, Privacy2012 was a momentous year for social media law. We’ve combed through the court decisions, the legislative initiatives, the regulatory actions and the corporate trends to identify what we believe to be the ten most significant social media law developments of the past year–here they are, in no particular order: Bland v. Roberts – A… Continue Reading
New Issue of the Socially Aware Newsletter Now Available
Posted in Employment Law, FCC, FTC, IP, Litigation, Privacy, Section 230 Safe Harbor, Statistics, Terms of Use, TrademarkIn the latest issue of Socially Aware, our Burton Award-winning guide to the law and business of social media, we look at recent First Amendment, intellectual property, labor and privacy law developments affecting corporate users of social media and the Internet. We also recap major events from 2012 that have had a substantial impact on… Continue Reading
Facebook ’em, Danno: Federal Court May Decide Whether Citizens Have First Amendment Right to Use Social Media to Publicly Criticize the Hawaii 5-0
Posted in LitigationOn top of a presidential election, protests over Instagram’s terms of use, and the invention of gloves that can translate sign language, 2012 also brought to light interesting constitutional issues involving public entities’ use of social media when a citizens’ group filed suit against the City and County of Honolulu for “violations of [the group’s]… Continue Reading
Infographic: The Growing Impact of Social Media
Posted in Infographic, StatisticsJudge Posner Kicks that Flava in Ya Ear: New Guidance on Contributory Infringement from the Seventh Circuit
Posted in Copyright, DMCA, LitigationOver the past year, a number of courts across the country have decided cases involving contributory infringement and the application of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s § 512(c) safe harbor in the social media context. Unfortunately for those who favor a uniform approach to the law, the precedent being developed is in many ways inconsistent. On… Continue Reading
Update: What’s Not to Like?
Posted in Employment Law, Litigation, PrivacyAs we reported earlier this year, the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia held in Bland v. Roberts that merely “liking” a Facebook page is insufficient speech to merit constitutional protection. In the case, former employees of the Hampton Sheriff’s Office brought a lawsuit against Sheriff B.J. Roberts, in his individual and official… Continue Reading
California Attorney General Creates Privacy Enforcement and Protection Unit; Increased Enforcement Likely
Posted in PrivacyOn July 19th, California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced the formation of a new Privacy Enforcement and Protection Unit within the state’s Department of Justice. The move is widely seen as a means of stepping up the state’s enforcement activities involving privacy issues. The Privacy Enforcement and Protection Unit will be organized under the… Continue Reading
“You Have One New Lawsuit”: Can You Serve Legal Notice Through Social Media?
Posted in LitigationAs reported by Law360 and several other sources, on June 7, 2012, in Fortunato v. Chase Bank, a federal district court ruled that defendant Chase Bank could not use Facebook to serve a third-party defendant with the complaint that Chase had filed against her. In Fortunato, plaintiff Lorri Fortunato sued Chase Bank, alleging that the… Continue Reading
Tracking the Trolls: A “Twitter Jitters” Update
Posted in E-Personation, LitigationWe reported this past May in our Socially Aware blog about efforts of law enforcement authorities in the United Kingdom to adapt existing laws to police potential offenses committed via social media. The UK government has just announced proposals that will make it easier to identify people who abuse social media. The UK government’s somewhat surprising… Continue Reading
Interview with Debbie Rosenbaum regarding Bland v. Roberts
Posted in Employment Law, Litigation, PrivacyAs a result of her recent Socially Aware blog post What’s Not to Like, our contributor Debbie Rosenbaum has been interviewed by LXBN TV regarding Bland v. Roberts, the recent (and controversial) federal court decision holding that “liking” a Facebook page does not constitute protected speech under the First Amendment. Click below to watch the… Continue Reading
Should We All Be Getting the Twitter “Jitters”? Be Careful What You Say Online (Particularly in the United Kingdom)
Posted in Ethics, LitigationHistory is littered with examples of the law being slow to catch up with the use of technology. Social media is no exception. As our Socially Aware blog attests, countries around the world are having to think fast to apply legal norms to rapidly evolving communications technologies and practices. Law enforcement authorities in the United… Continue Reading
Maryland Enacts First Law Prohibiting Employers From Requesting Passwords to Employees’ Online Personal Accounts
Posted in Employment Law, PrivacyIn our recent Socially Aware blog post, we noted that a number of pending state bills are seeking to ban employers from requesting confidential login information, including social media login information, as a condition of employment. In fact, on April 9, 2012, Maryland passed Senate Bill 433/HB 964, prohibiting employers from requesting current and prospective… Continue Reading
What’s Not to Like?
Posted in Employment Law, Litigation, PrivacyA recent district court decision highlights the growing prevalence of issues relating to new media technologies arising in the courtroom. In Bland v. Roberts, the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia held that merely “liking” a Facebook page is insufficient speech to merit constitutional protection. Five former employees of the Hampton Sheriff’s… Continue Reading
What’s Your Facebook Password?
Posted in Employment Law, FCC, Federal Communications Commission Reform Act, PrivacyAccording to press reports, a growing number of employers require job applicants to disclose their login information for Facebook or other social media accounts as a condition of employment. While this practice may very well fall on the wrong side of the law, lawyers and lawmakers are still in the process of establishing the framework… Continue Reading
Relevance of Securities Laws in the Social Media Age – Seminar Series
Posted in Event, SEC, Securities LawJoin us for this timely seminar series in New York, Palo Alto, and San Francisco. The use of social media by public companies and their employees raises many legal issues, such as the application of the federal securities laws to communications made through company websites, blogs, Twitter and Facebook. Those communications implicate laws regulating selective… Continue Reading