Social media sites are transforming not only the daily lives of consumers, but also how companies interact with consumers. Here at Morrison Foerster, across all of our practice groups, we are seeing complex, cutting-edge legal issues arising out of social media. As with the Internet boom during the mid-to-late 1990s, social media is generating new legal questions at a far faster pace than the law’s ability to provide answers to such questions. In an effort to stay on top of these emerging issues, and to keep our clients and friends informed of new developments, Morrison Foerster publishes this blog devoted to the law and business of social media.<h2>ABOUT MORRISON FOERSTER</h2>Morrison Foerster is a leading global law firm that transforms complexity into advantage for its clients. Our clients include some of the largest financial institutions, banks, consulting and accounting firms, and Fortune 100, technology, and life sciences companies. Highlighting the firm’s commitment to client service, leadership in market-changing deals and impact litigation, and values-based culture, Morrison Foerster has been repeatedly recognized as one of the top 10 firms on The American Lawyer’s A-List. Year after year, the firm receives significant recognition from Chambers and The Legal 500 across their various guides, including Global, USA, Asia‑Pacific, Europe, UK, Latin America, and FinTech Legal. Our lawyers passionately care about delivering legal excellence while living our values. Morrison Foerster has a long-standing commitment to creating a culture that respects and celebrates differences, while providing an inclusive environment. The firm has achieved Mansfield Certification Plus since 2018 as a result of successfully reaching at least 30 percent women, communities of color, and LGBTQ+ lawyer representation in a notable number of current leadership roles and committees. The firm also has a long history of commitment to the community and society through providing pro bono legal services, including litigating for civil rights and civil liberties, improving public education and fostering the wellbeing of children, advocating for veterans, promoting international human rights, enforcing the right to asylum, and safeguarding the environment.

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Aaron is the chair of the firm’s Technology Transactions Group and co-chair of the Interactive + Digital Media Group. He advises clients on a wide range of complex transactions involving intellectual property and technology, including structuring and negotiating strategic licensing, development, collaboration, procurement, and distribution deals.Aaron’s practice focuses on advising both established and emerging companies in a variety of data- and technology-intensive sectors, including software, SaaS, cloud-based technology, digital media (social media, AR/VR, gaming, streaming media, AdTech), AI, healthcare, consumer electronics, e-commerce, other online business models, and mobile applications. He also maintains an active practice counseling companies on branding and marketing, trademark licensing, and content-related transactions, as well as the intellectual property aspects of mergers, acquisitions, asset spin-offs, and private equity investments.He has represented clients such as Autodesk, Meta, OpenAI, Splunk, Konami, Kaiser Permanente, SoftBank, Visa, and Yahoo, among others.Aaron has been recognized by numerous publications for his work on market-defining technology transactions. He is currently ranked by Chambers USA for “Technology Transactions.”Aaron also serves as co-editor of Socially Aware, the firm’s award-winning newsletter and blog devoted to the law and business of social media, and regularly publishes on various IP and technology-related topics. Aaron is also a sought-after speaker on new and emerging areas of law, and is a frequent presenter and panelist at conferences and legal services programs. In addition to his active practice, Aaron regularly provides pro bono assistance to various nonprofit and charitable organizations such as Common Sense Media and the Starlight Children’s Foundation. He is a member of the board of directors of California Lawyers for the Arts.While in law school at the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, Aaron served as executive editor of the California Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif. Following law school, Aaron served as law clerk to the Honorable William H. Orrick and the Honorable Martin J. Jenkins, both United States District Judges for the Northern District of California.

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Aaron is the chair of our Technology Transactions Group. He advises clients on a wide range of complex transactions involving intellectual property and technology, including structuring and negotiating strategic licensing, development, collaboration, procurement, and distribution deals. Aaron’s practice focuses on advising both established and emerging companies in a variety of data– and technology–intensive sectors, including software, SaaS, cloud computing, AR/VR, AI, gaming, healthcare, consumer electronics, social media, e–commerce, other online business models, and mobile applications. He also maintains an active practice counseling companies on the intellectual property aspects of mergers, acquisitions, asset spin–offs, and private equity investments.

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Lawrence Gallick is of counsel in the firm’s Austin office and a member of the Technology Transactions Group.Lawrence focuses his practice on technology transactions and licensing matters. His diverse experience includes advising on SaaS agreements, cross-licensing agreements, research and collaboration agreements, development agreements, and distribution agreements. He counsels a broad range of companies across the software, hardware, life sciences, biotech and FinTech spaces, as well as other entities including universities.He advises clients in connection with general corporate matters including contract negotiations, and leasing and technology placement agreements.Lawrence also serves as co-editor of <a href="https://www.sociallyawareblog.com/" target="_blank">Socially Aware</a>, the firm’s award-winning newsletter and blog devoted to the law and business of social media, and regularly publishes on various IP and technology-related topics.Prior to joining the firm, Lawrence was counsel at another major law firm. Before earning his law degree, Lawrence was a web consultant, project manager, and web developer in Portland, Oregon, where he managed and consulted on projects using industry methodologies and performed custom development and integration of content management systems.Lawrence was named a Super Lawyers “Rising Star” in 2015 and 2018–2022, and is licensed in both California and New York. Lawrence earned his J.D. from the University at Buffalo School of Law, where he was the electronic systems editor for the Buffalo Law Review and awarded the ABA-BNA Award for Excellence in the Study of Intellectual Property Law.

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Anthony Ramirez is a partner in the Technology Transactions Group in the New York office of Morrison Foerster.Anthony advises clients on general commercial and transactional matters. He regularly advises companies on the IP aspects of their M&A transactions. His clients include technology, digital media and content for television and music, financial services, and communications companies with diverse intellectual property assets and issues.His practice focuses on the legal aspects of developing, licensing, and commercializing technology and intellectual property, as well as negotiating general commercial contracts, including outsourcing transactions, as well as content and data licenses. He regularly assists clients with legal issues relating to licensing and commercialization of digital media and content, digital content that is distributed over the Internet or streamed, mobile applications and social media, as well as the licensing of recorded music for distribution via digital platforms. Anthony is also experienced with issues relating to open-source software, software development, artificial intelligence and machine learning, cloud-based technology, and protection of proprietary information.Anthony has extensive experience working on matters involving disruptive technologies, such as blockchain. He has helped fintech clients with general intellectual property issues in connection with terms of service for online financial products and services.Anthony is an integral part of the outside pro bono legal team for nonprofit organizations based in New York, including advising clients on legal issues regarding entertainment, social media, privacy rights, and the negotiation of outsourcing and service agreements. Anthony received his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 2009. He received his B.S. from Cornell University in 2004.

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Anthony Ramirez is a partner in the Technology Transactions Group in the New York office of Morrison Foerster. He advises clients on general commercial and transactional matters. His clients include technology, media, and communications companies with considerable intellectual property assets. His practice focuses on the legal aspects of licensing and commercializing technology and intellectual property, as well as negotiating general commercial contracts. He also regularly assists clients with legal issues relating to mobile applications and social media.

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This post is a bit meta. It is about an event that I attended that was about an event that I didn’t attend.Let me explain. I missed the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this year, but was fortunate to attend the <a href="https://media.paleycenter.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Paley Center for Media</a>’s (PCM) “<a href="https://www.paleycenter.org/mc-best-of-ces-2018" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Best of CES 2018</a>” event last Thursday night. Every year, immediately following CES, PCM (a Morrison & Foerster client) convenes a panel of well-known tech industry commentators to discuss the most interesting technologies and technology trends that they discovered at CES. For attendees of PCM’s event, it feels like getting all of the benefits of CES without having to deal with the crowds and long lines (or even booking a flight to Las Vegas).This year’s PCM panel members, all of whom had spent the prior week at CES, consisted of Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal, Dana Wollman of Engadget, Shelly Palmer of the Palmer Group and Advancit Capital’s Jon Miller, who served as the moderator.Normally this is the sort of event that I would have live tweeted via our <a href="https://twitter.com/MoFoSocMedia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@MoFoSocMedia</a> Twitter account—but I’m a slow typist and the panelists had way too many interesting insights per minute for me to keep up. On the other hand, it seems selfish not to share what I learned, so I’m writing this informal summary of the event—essentially, the best of the “Best of CES 2018.”My notes from the panel presentation did not always indicate which panelists made which observations, so my apologies in advance for not always attributing a particular insight to a particular panelist. I do note that all three panelists and the moderator were brilliant.So here we go:Two Major TrendsThe panelists agreed that this year was a transitional year for CES; the focus appeared to be more on consolidating technological advances from recent years rather than on revolutionary new breakthroughs.Many new products featured at CES incorporated both AI and voice activation, the two biggest trends at the conference this year. Those products included “smart” appliances that respond to voice commands. Apparently we can expect to see AI-driven, voice-activated showers (with “disco mode”), mirrors, pillows and even toilets in the very near future . . . .Several of the panelists observed that voice-activation platforms are likely to be the gateway to greater public acceptance of robots; after all, a robot in the home is essentially an Alexa or Google Home device that moves.Vehicles of the FutureCars are always a big part of the CES experience, and this year was no different. Shelly Palmer was particularly impressed by the Olli, an electric, mostly 3D-printed, self-driving vehicle holding up to 10 people. It was created with extensive input from people with disabilities, to help ensure that their needs are addressed. Check it out; it does look very cool.The panelists also raved about Byton, a China-based startup that is developing a “<a href="https://www.caranddriver.com/features/path-to-autonomy-self-driving-car-levels-0-to-5-explained-feature">Level 4</a>” self-driving car that, in place of a dashboard, has a huge screen for watching movies, reading the news, checking your social media accounts and so forth. Dana Wollman noted that, while the predominant “narrative” regarding autonomous vehicles has been how to keep people safe, Byton’s gigantic screen highlights an emerging new narrative: What will we be doing in our vehicles once we no longer have to drive them? More information regarding Byton’s prototype vehicle (including a photo of its dashboard-replacing screen) can be found <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/7/16859490/byton-electric-car-concept-suv-price-range-speed-ces-2018" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.While on the topic of autonomous vehicles, Shelly Palmer made this fascinating observation: Although self-driving cars may be safer than traditional cars, there will be accidents involving self-driving cars; when such accidents occur, the costs of repairing a self-driving car will be much higher than they would be to repair a traditional car. That’s because cutting-edge technology is embedded throughout a self-driving cars.For example, a cracked headlight will contain expensive, sophisticated sensors that will need to be replaced, the replacement sensors will need to be aligned with the car’s other sensors, and the repaired car will need to be tested to ensure that everything is in fact in alignment. In contrast, with a traditional car, a cracked headlight can usually be quickly and cheaply repaired.The Television Arms Race and “The Wall”Regarding TVs, Dana Wollman noted that the major theme at CES was “the arms race to 8K” picture quality. Yet other panelists pointed out the oddity of TV manufacturers’ focus on 8K, given that 4K TVs had yet to be embraced by the market (when the moderator asked how many audience members owned a 4K TV, only a few hands went up—this at an event filled with people in the media industry).The panelists agreed that the biggest TV-related buzz at CES 2018 was Samsung’s “The Wall,” a 146-inch TV that can be expanded or reduced by adding or removing Lego-like “tiles.” As Shelly Palmer noted, once we have wall-sized TVs with 8K picture quality, where do TV manufacturers go from there? Will they have run out of problems requiring a solution? Here’s a <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/7/16859490/byton-electric-car-concept-suv-price-range-speed-ces-2018">link</a> to additional information regarding The Wall (including a photo).Our Ping Pong-Playing Robot OverlordsRegarding robots, Omron’s ping pong-playing robot created a big buzz; imagine the massive amount of processing power needed for a robot to be sufficiently quick and responsive to compete in ping pong with human players. A video of the Omron robot can be found <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/av/technology-42657383/ces-2018-omron-s-ping-pong-robot-keeps-ball-in-play" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>—definitely worth watching. It’s embarrassing enough that robots can beat us humans in chess—but ping pong?The panelists noted that, at CES 2018, there appeared to be an effort to address the creepiness factor associated with robots. In particular, robot developers appear to be moving away from anthropomorphic robots to robots modeled after dogs and other non-human forms—<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2815114/Top-ten-uses-mobile-phone-Calls-come-SIXTH-40-smartphone-users-say-manage-without-call-function-device.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the cuter, the better</a>.Key TakeawaysIn his concluding thoughts, Shelly Palmer observed that, despite the proliferation of data-gathering devices, the tech industry is still struggling with how to turn data into action. He viewed this as one of his key takeaways from this year’s CES.Joanna Stern highlighted a growing public concern over how social media and other technologies that promised to foster human interaction are increasingly viewed as disrupting human interaction.Building on Ms. Stern’s point, Jon Miller noted studies showing that the use of the “phone” function on smart phones—perhaps the most purely “social” function on a smart phone—is decreasing. (I briefly looked into this after the Paley Center event, and stumbled across this interesting article on how <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2815114/Top-ten-uses-mobile-phone-Calls-come-SIXTH-40-smartphone-users-say-manage-without-call-function-device.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">40% of smart phone users say they could do without a call function on their smart phones</a>.)The event ended with an anecdote about how comedian David Chappelle performed shows last year where audience members <a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2017/08/24/yondr-dave-chappelle-cellphone-bagging-denver-schools/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">were required to place their mobile phones inside locked pouches designed to prevent phone use during Chappelle’s performance</a>. Could the hot trend at next year’s CES be technology designed to reduce our dependence on technology?

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The Best of the Best of CES 2018

This post is a bit meta. It is about an event that I attended that was about an event that I didn’t attend. Let me explain. I missed the Consumer Electronics Sh

The Best of the Best of CES 2018

As Socially Aware readers know, 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 legal risks at Practising Law Institute’s (PLI) 2018 Social Media conference, to be held in San Francisco on Thursday, February 1st, and in New York City on Wednesday, February 14th; both events will be webcasted. The conference will be chaired by Socially Aware co-editor John Delaney, and our other co-editor, <a href="https://www.mofo.com/people/aaron-rubin.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Aaron Rubin</a>, will also be presenting at the event.Topics to be addressed will include:<ul><li>The new business opportunities—and legal risks—that social media is providing for businesses</li><li>What every company should know about online contractual eco-systems</li><li>How to avoid running afoul of the law when employing social media influencers and using marketing tools like user-generated content, hashtags and native advertising online</li><li>The privacy-related developments that have arisen in connection with geo-location tracking and interest-based advertising</li><li>How to minimize the risks that accompany social media use in the workplace</li></ul>In addition, an in-house panel will provide creative solutions to real-world social-media-related issues and address emerging social media trends. Don’t miss this opportunity to get up-to-date information on the fast-breaking developments in the critical area of social media so that you can most effectively meet the needs of your clients.For more information or to register, please visit PLI’s website <a href="https://www.pli.edu/Content/Seminar/Social_Media_2018_Addressing_Corporate_Risks/_/N-4kZ1z101bc?Ns=sort_date%7c0&ID=320221" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. We hope to see you there!

Social Media 2018: Addressing Corporate Risks

As Socially Aware readers know, social media is transforming the way companies interact with consumers. Learn how to make the most of these online opportunities

Social Media 2018: Addressing Corporate Risks

For the third year in a row, Socially Aware co-editor Aaron Rubin and I attended <a href="https://www.sxsw.com/festivals/interactive/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SXSW Interactive</a>, which arguably has become the premier annual gathering for the global tech community. But this year, SXSW Interactive had a very different vibe to it than in the prior two years.In the past, a spirit of boundless optimism infused the event. A sense existed that there is no problem that could not be solved through technological innovation.Indeed, at SXSW Interactive last year, President Obama—who was rapturously received by the audience—touched on this “can do” spirit in his <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/03/14/remarks-president-south-southwest-interactive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">keynote address</a>:“So the reason I’m here really is to recruit all of you. It’s to say to you as I’m about to leave office, how can we start coming up with new platforms, new ideas, new approaches across disciplines and across skill sets to solve some of the big problems that we’re facing today.”What a difference a year can make. Perhaps it was due in part to the weather—overcast, wet and cold—but a pessimistic mood seemed to hang over this year’s edition of SXSW Interactive.For example, many of the panel discussions this year dealt with the dark underbelly of social media and other emerging technologies. There were panels on the social media-fueled proliferation of <a href="http://schedule.sxsw.com/2017/events/PP96482" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fake news</a>; politically motivated <a href="http://schedule.sxsw.com/2017/events/PP67877" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hacking</a>; the rise of<a href="http://schedule.sxsw.com/2017/events/PP62760" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> anti-Semitism</a> and <a href="http://schedule.sxsw.com/2017/events/PP65258" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hate speech</a> online; and even <a href="http://schedule.sxsw.com/2017/events/PP96018" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the use of social media by law enforcement to monitor social activists</a>.A sense of “what have we wrought” permeated several of these panel sessions. The tech community created all of these astonishing tools, platforms and other technologies to transform the world for the better—yet panelists lamented that these same technologies are increasingly being co-opted by white nationalists and other extremists to promote their messages to a wider audience.Also indicative of how things had changed since 2016: The most sought-after invites in Austin were not for events hosted by tech giants such as Google or Facebook, but by news organizations such as CNN and the New York Times.Amidst the gloom, there were many panel sessions that would have been right at home at last year’s festival. Every SXSW Interactive attendee has a different takeaway as to the hot emerging technologies based on what sessions he or she was able to get into, but I saw a number of fascinating panels on the rapid development and adoption of artificial intelligence (if only I had a dollar for every time the term “machine learning” was uttered in Austin—I’d take all those dollars and, well, invest in some trendy AI start-up). Fintech and healthcare IT developments also seemed to be generating a big buzz this year.There were moments when the old optimism resurfaced. Former Vice President Joe Biden showed up to encourage the SXSW community <a href="https://www.engadget.com/2017/03/13/joe-biden-sxsw-cancer-initiative/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to turn its sights to the battle to defeat cancer</a>, noting that “you can make a gigantic impact.” And even during the downbeat panel session on fake news, several of the panelists observed that AI and other emerging technologies are already being enlisted to combat fake news. Maybe everything will work out all right after all.

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Gloom Descends on This Year’s SXSW Interactive

Gloom Descends on This Year’s SXSW Interactive