Socially Aware

June 12, 2013 - Asia
The Diet Has Spoken: Japanese Lawmakers Approve Internet-Enabled Campaigning
By: Tomoki Kodama
In February 2013, we reported on legislative momentum in the Japanese Diet to bring Japan’s sixty-year-old election laws into the brave new world of Web 2.0. On April 19, 2013, that reform effort came to fruition, when a bill permitting the use of the
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June 11, 2013 - Securities Law, SEC, Financial Institutions
Stop Insider Tweeting!—Feds Eye Social Media for Securities Shenanigans
Article courtesy of Morrison & Foerster’s MoFo Tech As financial institutions and investors turn to social media to instantly share snippets of news and potential clues about market trends, the FBI and SEC are monitoring such postings for evidence of insider trading and improper
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June 11, 2013 - E-Commerce, Ethics
Playing Fair? UK’s OFT Investigates Online and App-Based Games
On April 12, 2013, the UK’s Office of Fair Trading (OFT), the UK regulator for consumer affairs and competition, announced that it was launching an investigation into children’s web- and app-based games. In particular, the OFT is looking into whether such games comply with
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June 10, 2013 - FTC, Privacy
Mobile Apps Bill Introduced in the House of Representatives
By: Rick Fischer
Article courtesy of Morrison & Foerster’s Mobile Payments Practice Lawmakers in Washington, D.C., continue to show interest in understanding and developing regulatory proposals relating to mobile apps. The interest appears to be driven, at least in part, by policymakers’ concerns about consumer privacy when
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June 05, 2013 - Infographic, Ethics
New UK Press Self-Regulation – With a Small Blog Exemption
Following concerns raised by bloggers, the UK government has clarified that small blogs will be exempt from the scope of the new UK press watchdog which is to be introduced as a result of the findings of the Leveson Inquiry. In 2007, Clive Goodman,
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June 04, 2013 - FDA Regulations
FDA Letter to Mobile App Developer Signals Regulatory Scheme
By: Erin M. Bosman and Julie Y. Park
In late May 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sent an enforcement letter to a mobile medical app developer for failing to obtain a 510(k) clearance before marketing the app, which the FDA said appears to be a “device” under section 201(h)
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May 29, 2013 - E-Commerce, Litigation
UK: The Latest Social Media Legal Updates
In our May 30, 2012 post on the Socially Aware blog— “Should We All Be Getting the Twitter “Jitters”? Be Careful What You Say Online (Particularly in the United Kingdom)” —we considered a variety of UK laws being used to regulate the content of
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May 21, 2013 - Copyright, Litigation
The Second Circuit’s Aereo Math: One Copy + One Subscriber ≠ Public Performance
Last week—the week of May 12, 2013—proved to be an eventful week for Aereo. On May 14, 2013, the controversial broadcast television streaming service filed a motion for summary judgment in the Southern District of New York on copyright claims brought by broadcast television
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May 08, 2013 - Event
Use of Social Media for Issuers, Broker-Dealers and Advisers, and Investment Companies
By: David M. Lynn
Readers in the New York area, please join us for a complimentary, in-person event on Tuesday, May 28. Recently, regulators provided some additional guidance regarding the use of social media channels to disseminate issuer information. FINRA and the Commission also have been focused on
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April 29, 2013 - Terms of Use, Arbitration
Administering Arbitration Clauses in Online Terms of Service Agreements
Morrison & Foerster’s Sherman Kahn Interviews American Arbitration Association Vice President, Sandra Partridge Many companies are providing for arbitration of disputes in their terms of service agreements governing use of their websites or other online or mobile services. Arbitration clauses in online terms of
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