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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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 investigatio

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Playing Fair? UK’s OFT Investigates Online and App-Based Games

Playing Fair? UK’s OFT Investigates Online and App-Based Games | Socially Aware

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 the <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2008/1277/contents/made">Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008</a> (“Regulations”), and are not misleading or aggressive (for example, directly encouraging children to buy something or to pester their parents or other adults to buy something on their behalf). The investigation is expected to take six months to complete, and will take into account views from mobile app platform operators and other businesses operating in this market, together with the views of parents and consumer groups.The investigation was launched in response to reports of children racking up substantial bills on so-called “free” online and app-based games. For example, in March 2013, it was reported that a 5-year-old boy amassed a bill of £1,700 in just 15 minutes via <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-21629210">add-ons</a> while playing the “free” game “Zombies vs Ninja.” There are thousands of games like this that are marketed as being free to download but, once the user starts playing, present advertising encouraging the user to pay to get access to extra levels or to receive in-game extras such as virtual coins, gems or other tokens.The OFT estimates that, as of April 9, 2013, 80 of the 100 top-grossing Android apps were free to download, yet raised revenue through these kinds of in-app purchases. Although platforms will often enable password protection to restrict in-app purchases, such measures will not prevent purchases by children who know their parents’ password or by parents who, at the request of their children, insert their password without appreciation of the risks.The Regulations, which implement the <a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2005:149:0022:0039:en:PDF">Unfair Commercial Practices Directive 2005/29/EC</a>, state that unfair commercial practices are prohibited. A commercial practice is deemed to be unfair if it contravenes the requirements of professional diligence and materially distorts, or is likely to materially distort, the economic behavior of the consumer with regard to the product. Aggressive commercial practices are those that impair the average consumer’s freedom of choice or conduct through the use of harassment, coercion or undue influence, and that thereby cause, or are likely to cause, the consumer “to take a transactional decision he would not have taken otherwise.” Undue influence includes exploiting a position of power in relation to the consumer.The Regulations clearly provide that it is unfair to include in an advertisement a direct exhortation to children to buy advertised products, or persuade their parents or other adults to buy advertised products for them. Breach of the Regulations can lead to criminal penalties such as a fine or imprisonment for up to two years.The OFT has made it clear that no company that is included in its investigation should be assumed to have broken the Regulations. In addition, the OFT has stated that it does not wish to ban in-app purchases, but rather to determine whether they are compliant with the Regulations in order to ensure that children are protected. Nevertheless, the OFT has indicated that it will take enforcement action against offending companies if necessary. The outcome of the OFT’s investigation is expected to be published in October 2013.In the meantime, a number of guides have appeared providing advice to parents on how to block in-app purchases (including guidance published by the UK communications regulator, Ofcom), and at least one major app distributor has added in-app purchase warnings to its app store listings. This could be the key to future settings: allowing users to filter out in-app purchase applications when downloading them.It will be interesting to see what approach the OFT decides to take as a result of its investigation, and where it believes responsibility should lie. Should parents be expected to take more control over their children’s gaming activities or should providers be required to do more, e.g., by providing more information warning users on the nature of these “freemium” apps contained within their stores?Lastly, note that this investigation may have consequences for game providers operating elsewhere in Europe. Because the Regulations are based on EU law, other EU regulators will be watching the progress of the OFT investigation closely to consider whether they, too, need to scrutinize games providers’ compliance with the equivalent laws in their territories.