A new report from the U.S. Copyright Office suggests that Congress should fine-tune the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to, among other things, alter the takedown system that platforms must adhere to in order to be eligible for the safe harbor the DMCA affords to online platforms when third parties post infringing content. Read about
Ethics
Social Links: Bills that would take a bite out of §230; court opinion on social media & ethics; using evidence on social media to determine unemployment benefits eligibility

A federal appeals court in Miami held that a judge needn’t necessarily recuse herself from a case being argued by a lawyer with whom the judge is merely Facebook “friends.”
Bills in both houses of Congress propose amending Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act to clarify that it doesn’t insulate website operators from liability…
Social Links: YouTube reaches major milestone; Google tries to ferret out hate speech; justices consider constitutionality of barring social media access

Google unveiled a new tool designed to combat toxic speech online by assessing the language commenters use, as opposed to the ideas they express.
Is a state law banning sex offenders from social media unconstitutional? Based on their comments during oral arguments in Packingham v. North Carolina, some U.S. Supreme Court justices may think…
Social Links: Google Maps gets social; Twitter puts trolls in time out; today’s teens take to chat rooms

New York City’s Conflicts of Interest Board has issued guidelines prohibiting elected officials from using official social media accounts for political purposes or having their staff draft content for their personal social media accounts.
Congress has begun paving the way for the deployment of autonomous vehicles.
Twitter has begun temporarily limiting its account features…
Join Us at the Social Media 2017: Addressing Corporate Risks Conference on February 15th
In the wake of a successful social media conference in San Francisco, Socially Aware co-editors John Delaney and Aaron Rubin are revved up and ready to chair (John) and present (Aaron and John) at another Practicing Law Institute (PLI) 2017 Social Media conference! This one will be held in New York City on Wednesday, February…
Social Media 2017: Addressing Corporate Risks
Social media is transforming the way companies interact with consumers. Learn how to make the most of these online opportunities while minimizing your company’s risk at Practicing Law Institute’s (PLI) 2017 Social Media conference, to be held in San Francisco and webcasted on Thursday, February 2nd. The conference will be chaired by Socially…
Social Links: LinkedIn’s new feature estimates salaries; states grapple with digital-asset-inheritance laws; insurance company wants to base rates on applicants’ Facebook posts

Because it bases its assesments on job title, location and industry, LinkedIn’s new Salary feature might be more accurate than are other online compensation estimation tools.
States are trying to pass laws that balance bereaved people’s desire to access their deceased loved ones’ social media accounts with the privacy interests of the account holders and…
Social Links: Livestreaming goes mainstream; social-media-use guidance for judges; three years in jail for trolling?

Facebook signs more than $50 million worth of deals with media firms and celebrities to create videos for its live-streaming service.
Tumblr is jumping on the live video bandwagon, too—but via live-streaming platform partners, not through its own service.
C-Span picked up live feeds of the Democratic sit-in over gun-control legislation that representatives shot on…
Social Links: The ramifications of Microsoft’s LinkedIn purchase; the brands using Snapchat; lawyers’ social media use

Lots of press surrounding Microsoft’s purchase of LinkedIn: Will LinkedIn change as a result? Will the Microsoft purchase inspire a Twitter acquisition?
“Spam King” gets 30 months in jail for sending 27 million messages.
One columnist says you should stop measuring your social media marketing reach.
Twitter is now allowing brands to target ads…
Social Links: Social’s potential to upend the investment industry; online ad fraud; a proposal to fix Twitter

Social media has upended a number of industries. Is Wall Street next?
Facebook is getting into the video game live-streaming business.
Steven Avery’s defense attorney is keeping her 163,000 Twitter followers abreast of her ongoing defense work on behalf of the “Making a Murderer” documentary subject, and some lawyers think it’s a bad idea.…