Facebook ’em, Danno: Federal Court May Decide Whether Citizens Have First Amendment Right to Use Social Media to Publicly Criticize the Hawaii 5-0
- On 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... ›
FTC Snuffs Out Online “History Sniffing”
By: Julie O'Neill
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has cracked down on a company that was engaged in “history sniffing,” a means of online tracking that digs up information embedded in web browsers to reveal the websites that users have visited. In a proposed settlement with Epic... ›Google AdWords Decision Highlights Contours of the CDA Section 230 Safe Harbor
In a string of cases against Google, approximately 20 separate plaintiffs have claimed that, through advertisements on its AdWords service, Google engaged in trademark infringement. These claims have been based on Google allowing its advertisers to use their competitors’ trademarks in Google-generated online advertisements.... ›- - FCC, Litigation
FCC Rules That Opt-Out Confirmation Text Messages Do Not Violate the TCPA
By: Tiffany Cheung and Julie O'Neill
Waves of class actions have recently alleged that the delivery of an opt-out confirmation text message violates the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). Thus, a Federal Communications Commission (“Commission”) Declaratory Ruling finding that a single opt-out confirmation text does not violate the TCPA comes... › PeopleBrowsr Wins Round One Against Twitter
By: J. Alexander Lawrence
The Superior Court of the State of California has entered a temporary restraining order requiring Twitter to continue to provide PeopleBrowsr with access to the Firehose, Twitter’s complete stream of all public tweets. Through the Firehose, Twitter provides third-party access to over 400 million... ›Which Side Are You On? Employers and Employees Battle Over Ownership of Social Media Accounts
When an employee uses a social media account to promote his or her company, who keeps that account when the employee leaves? Perhaps more importantly, who keeps the friends, followers and connections associated with that account? Three lawsuits highlight the challenges an employer may... ›California A.G. Makes Good on Promise to Pursue Apps That Don’t Comply With the State’s Privacy Policy Law
By: Julie O'Neill
On October 30, 2012, California Attorney General Kamala Harris announced that her office would begin notifying the developers of as many as 100 mobile apps that their apps do not comply with the state’s Online Privacy Protection Act (OPPA) and that they have 30... ›That’s a Wrap: Nguyen v. Barnes & Noble
Website operators often take for granted the enforceability of their websites’ terms of service. In a recent order issued in a case from the Central District of California, Nguyen v. Barnes & Noble, Inc. , Judge Josephine Tucker reminds us that such presumptions are... ›Born to Mock: Trademark Holder’s Fight to Remove Mark on Kitsch Merchandise May Have Broad Legal Implications
By: Jessica Kaufman
Popular online marketplace CafePress.com suffered a legal setback recently when a U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York denied CafePress’s motion for summary judgment against claims of trademark infringement. CafePress operates an online “print on demand” service that allows users to... ›