Welcome to Socially Aware

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.

July 07, 2015 - Internet of Things, Marketing, Privacy, Cloud Computing, Wearable Computers
Toward a Grand Unifying Theory of Today’s Tech Trends
As a technology law blogger and co-editor of Socially Aware , I monitor emerging developments in information technology. What’s hot in IT today? Any shortlist would have to include social media, mobile, wearable technology, the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing and big data.
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June 30, 2015 - Online Promotions, Terms of Use, Labor Law, Copyright, Employment Law, Arbitration, IP, Litigation
Five Social Media Law Issues To Discuss With Your Clients
By: Aaron P. Rubin
The explosive growth of social media has clients facing legal questions that didn’t even exist a few short years ago. Helping your clients navigate this muddled legal landscape will have them clicking “like” in no time. What’s in a Like? Not long ago, the
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June 29, 2015 - Terms of Use, Online Reviews
The Right to Give One-Star Reviews
By: Aaron P. Rubin
Congress has taken a step toward protecting consumers’ rights to post negative reviews on websites like Ripoff Report or Yelp with the introduction, by Representative Darrell E. Issa of California, of the Consumer Review Freedom Act of 2015 (the CFRA). The CFRA follows a
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June 23, 2015 - SEC
The Guide to Social Media and Securities Law
The growing use of social media has created challenges for federal securities regulators and, given the significance of social media as a preferred method of communication for a large percentage of market participants, the need to adapt Federal securities laws and the regulatory framework
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June 19, 2015 - Online Promotions, Marketing, Privacy
Digital Advertising Alliance Focuses on Mobile Ads
By: Julie O'Neill
As more users spend more time on their mobile devices, advertising dollars are following. And the compliance regime that governs interest-based advertising (IBA) (formerly referred to as online behavioral advertising or OBA) is expanding as well. (IBA is the collection of information about users’
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June 12, 2015 - E-Commerce
The NYDFS Finalizes its BitLicense Proposal
By: Jeremy R. Mandell
On June 3, 2015, the New York Department of Financial Services (“NYDFS”) issued a final rule regarding its “BitLicense” regulatory regime (“Final Rule”). The Final Rule follows an initial proposal from July 2014 and a revised proposal from February 2015 (“Revised Proposal”). Our analysis of
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May 28, 2015 - E-Commerce
“Firsts” for the World of Virtual Currencies
By: Jeremy R. Mandell
There have been two recent virtual currency-related actions worthy of note: (1) the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) announced its first civil enforcement action against a virtual currency exchanger, and (2) the New York Department of Financial Services (“NYDFS”) granted its first license to
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May 28, 2015 - First Amendment, Status Updates, Privacy
Status Updates: A Right To Be Forgotten Update; Errand Apps for Everyone?; Your Entire Google Search History
By: Aaron P. Rubin
Lest we forget. Established a year ago this month by a European Court of Justice decision , the right to be forgotten requires search engines like Google to comply with an individual’s request to remove “inadequate, irrelevant,” or “excessive” links that appear in search
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May 21, 2015 - FTC, Privacy
The FTC Weighs in on In-Store Tracking. Or Does It?
By: Julie O'Neill
In law school, everybody learns the adage that hard cases make bad law. When it comes to the Federal Trade Commission, a better aphorism might be, “easy cases make new law.” The FTC’s recent settlement with Nomi Technologies Inc. is, as the FTC’s press
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May 20, 2015 - Status Updates, Disappearing Content, E-Discovery, Discovery, Litigation
Status Updates: Facebook Posts—Reliable Evidence?; Quora Post Costs Applicant a Job; a New Ephemeral Messaging App
Facebook: Fact or fiction? These days, courts are more and more frequently faced with disputes over whether, as part of the discovery process, a litigant should be entitled to view the opposing party’s social media posts. As we’ve discussed , some courts deciding physical
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