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.

Aaron P. Rubin

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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Lawrence Gallick

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.

Anthony M. Ramirez

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Socially Aware is devoted to the law and business of social media, proactively addressing emerging issues and keeping our clients informed of new developments. We cover fields such as artificial intelligence, privacy and data security, Section 230, intellectual property, and much more.

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As we noted in our recent post on the Second Circuit case Herrick v. Grindr, LLC, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) continues to provide immun

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D.C. Circuit Holds that Section 230 Locks Out Locksmiths

D.C. Circuit Holds that Section 230 Locks Out Locksmiths | Socially Aware

As we noted in <a href="https://www.sociallyawareblog.com/2019/04/30/appeals-court-upholds-section-230-protections-in-case-against-grindr/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">our recent post</a> on the Second Circuit case <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=18029531304035617061&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr">Herrick v. Grindr, LLC</a>, <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/230" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Section 230</a> of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) continues to provide immunity to online intermediaries from liability for user content, despite pressure from <a href="https://www.sociallyawareblog.com/2016/08/24/hassell/">courts</a> and legislatures seeking to chip away at this safe harbor. The D.C. Circuit case <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/cadc/18-7018/18-7018-2019-06-07.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Marshall’s Locksmith Service Inc. v. Google, LLC</a> serves as another example of Section 230’s resiliency.In Marshall’s Locksmith, the D.C. Circuit affirmed the dismissal of claims brought by 14 locksmith companies against search engine operators Google, Microsoft and Yahoo! for allegedly conspiring to allow “scam locksmiths” to inundate the online search results page in order to extract additional advertising revenue.The scam locksmiths at issue published websites targeting heavily populated locations around the country to trick potential customers into believing that they were local companies. These websites provided either a fictitious address or no address at all, and falsely claimed that they were local businesses. The plaintiffs asserted various federal and state law claims against the search engine operators relating to false advertising, conspiracy and fraud based on their activities in connection with the scam locksmiths’ websites.The defendant search engine operators moved to dismiss, arguing that they were immune under Section 230, which confers immunity from claims that treat an online intermediary, such as a website or search engine, as the “publisher or speaker” of content provided by another party.  The plaintiffs contended, however, that the search engine operators were not entitled to the Section 230 immunity because they had a hand in creating the content at issue.Specifically, the plaintiffs argued that the search engines were not entitled to Section 230 immunity because they (1) published the websites created by the scam locksmiths while knowing that the locksmiths did not exist at the physical addresses listed in the websites, (2) created “enhanced” content based on the scam locksmiths’ websites in the form of map pinpoints that displayed the false locations, including in some cases “less exact” locations where the scam locksmith websites did not provide a specific street address, and (3) created “original content” in the form of false addresses or other information not based on content provided by the scam locksmiths.The court rejected all three arguments. First, the court held that, regardless of whether the defendants knew that the content in the scam locksmiths’ websites was false, publishing such content was “plainly within the immunity provided by Section 230.” The court noted that “it is well established that notice of the unlawful nature of the information provided is not enough to make it the [content host’s] own speech,” citing <a href="https://www.leagle.com/decision/infco20180223187" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bennett v. Google, LLC</a>, in which the D.C. Circuit held that “§ 230 immunity applies regardless of whether the defendant acquired knowledge that the published third-party content was false.”The court also rejected the plaintiffs’ argument that the defendants lost Section 230 immunity based on the creation of map pinpoints that displayed the scam locksmiths’ false locations, holding that the defendants’ decisions to present third-party information in a particular form did not constitute the “creation” of information for Section 230 purposes. The court reasoned that “were the display of this kind of information not immunized, nothing would be: every representation by a search engine of another party’s information requires the translation of a digital transmission into a textual or pictorial form.”The result was the same for the display of “less exact” map pinpoints. The plaintiffs argued that the defendants used general location information on the scam locksmiths’ websites, such as a statement that the locksmiths provide services in a particular city or area code, to “arbitrarily” assign a map location, and that this constituted creation of content that fell outside the Section 230 immunity.But the court rejected this argument as well for two reasons. First, the map pinpoints were not truly arbitrary and were, in fact, derived from information provided by the scam locksmiths. The court noted that the location algorithm is “merely a consequence of a website design that portrays all search results pictorially, with the maximum precision possible from third-party content of varying precision.” Second, the defendant search engines used an automated and neutral method to convert the third-party location data into map pinpoints. According to the court, the defendants’ use of such “neutral means” and “automated editorial acts” to translate the location information provided on the scam locksmiths’ websites into map pinpoints fell within the Section 230 immunity.Finally, the court rejected plaintiffs’ argument that the defendants should be liable for creating “original content” that was not based on information provided by third parties. Based on the opinion, it appears that the only such purportedly original content that plaintiffs addressed in both their appellate briefs and amended complaint was the same “false” or “fictitious” addresses that the court had already addressed.For supporters of Section 230, Marshall’s Locksmith is an encouraging example of the statute’s staying power. In any event, rest assured that we will continue to monitor the latest Section 230 developments here at Socially Aware. *  *  *  *Morrison & Foerster represented one of the appellees in this case.