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: Stored Communications Act
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
We’ve Come for Your Tweets: Twitter to Appeal Denial of Its Motion to Quash District Attorney’s Subpoena
Posted in Litigation, Privacy, Terms of UseAs the Occupy Wall Street protests fade from memory, a related discovery battle between Twitter and the New York County District Attorney rages on. Earlier this year, we discussed the District Attorney’s efforts to subpoena user information and tweets of criminal defendant Malcolm Harris, an Occupy Wall Street protester charged with disorderly conduct for allegedly… Continue Reading
New York Court to Criminal Defendant: Your Tweets May Be Used Against You
Posted in Litigation, PrivacyIn past Socially Aware posts, we have discussed using subpoenas in civil litigation to obtain evidence from social media sites, including whether individuals have a privacy interest in this information and how the Stored Communications Act may limit the use of subpoenas in civil cases. Until now, we have not discussed these issues in the… Continue Reading
CDA Immunity Gives Social Media Providers Wide Latitude in Combating Spam
Posted in Section 230 Safe HarborAs we reported last month, the safe harbor in Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (“CDA”) immunizes social media providers from liability based on content posted by users under most circumstances, but not from liability for content that the providers themselves generate. But what about when providers block Internet traffic such as “spam” –… Continue Reading
What Every Company Should Know About E-Discovery and Social Media
Posted in E-DiscoveryWith the exponential growth in the use of social media by individuals and corporations, civil discovery questions inevitably follow. Courts and litigants have been left to grapple with questions regarding the discoverability of data on social media sites and the appropriate scope of such discovery. Although the law will surely evolve in this area, some… Continue Reading