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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Lawrence W. Gallick

Social Links: If the Suit Fits

Social Links: Age Verification, X Appeal, and the Great White North

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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 release notes, the “FTC’s first against a retail tracking company.” On its face, the case is like many FTC privacy cases: It challenges a statement in the company’s privacy policy for allegedly being inconsistent with the company’s actual practices and thus deceptive. Under the surface, however, the case may open the door for the FTC to create a notice-and-choice regime for the physical tracking of consumers, analogous to its well-established notice-and-choice regime for online tracking.“Retail Tracking” and Nomi’s Allegedly Deceptive PracticesRetail tracking occurs when retailers, or their third-party service providers, capture and track the movements of consumers in and around stores through their mobile devices, such as through the use of Wi-Fi or beacons, in order, for example, to better understand store traffic or serve targeted offers. The FTC’s chief technologist recently published detailed comments on the “privacy trade-offs” of retail tracking and the various technologies that companies are using to engage in it. Given the potential lack of transparency around the practice and the corresponding privacy implications, it is not surprising that the FTC decided to address the practice through its Section 5 authority, even if the FTC did so in an indirect fashion.It is also not surprising that the FTC has moved cautiously into this space. The facts of In re Nomi, as alleged in the complaint, are simple. Nomi provided mobile device tracking technology that enabled its clients, brick-and-mortar retailers, to receive analytics reports about aggregate customer traffic patterns — that is, how long consumers stay in the store and in which sections, how long they wait in line, what percentage of consumers pass by the store altogether, and so on. Nomi represented in the privacy policies posted on its website that it would “[a]lways allow consumers to opt out of Nomi’s service on its website as well as at any retailer using Nomi’s technology.” While Nomi offered an opt-out on its website, it allegedly did not provide an opt-out mechanism at its clients’ retail locations, thus rendering its privacy policy promise deceptive, in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act.The FTC further alleged that Nomi represented, expressly or by implication, that consumers would be given notice when they were being tracked at a retail location. The statement of Chairwoman Edith Ramirez and Commissioners Julie Brill and Terrell McSweeny in support of the complaint and proposed order explains that “the express promise of an in-store opt out necessarily makes a second, implied promise: that retailers using Nomi’s service would notify consumers that the service was in use. This promise was also false. Nomi did not require its clients to provide such a notice. To our knowledge, no retailer provided such a notice on its own.” By allegedly failing to provide notice when a retail location was utilizing Nomi’s service to track customers, Nomi’s implied promise to provide notice was also deceptive.The FTC Keeps Nomi Narrow, for Now. What Lessons Can Others Learn?The proposed order provides for very narrow injunctive relief: It simply enjoins Nomi from misrepresenting how consumers can control the collection, use, disclosure or sharing of information collected from them or their devices, and from misrepresenting the extent to which consumers will receive notice about such tracking. The majority commissioners, in their statement, were at pains to disclaim any significance of the case with regard to the practice of retail tracking specifically:While the consent order does not require that Nomi provide in-store notice when a store uses its services or offer an in-store opt out, that was not the Commission’s goal in bringing this case. This case is simply about ensuring that when companies promise consumers the ability to make choices, they follow through on those promises.In other words, Nomi is the FTC’s first case involving brick-and-mortar tracking, but the FTC is not yet creating new law: The proposed order does not impose any affirmative notice and choice obligations on industry participants in the retail tracking space. It is not surprising that the commission declined to take such a drastic step with a practice that is still, relatively speaking, in its infancy, and that does not, on its face, involve sensitive personal information (though, while the information collected may be anonymous and analyzed only in aggregate, some retailers may, or at least could, pair tracking information through their apps with other information about identifying a specific consumer).When the FTC does impose specific obligations relating to a particular practice, it typically moves in an incremental fashion. For example, the FTC noted in its 2009 Report on Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising and again in its 2012 Privacy Report that the collection of precise geolocation requires affirmative express consent because such information is sensitive. The FTC continued to indicate, in guidance and follow-on staff reports, that a failure to provide notice and obtain affirmative opt-in consent for the collection of precise geolocation information could give rise to a cause of action for deception under Section 5 of the FTC Act.Then, when the FTC settled a case (When the FTC does impose specific obligations relating to a particular practice, it typically moves in an incremental fashion. For example, the FTC noted in its 2009 Report on Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising and again in its 2012 Privacy Report that the collection of precise geolocation requires affirmative express consent because such information is sensitive. The FTC continued to indicate, in guidance and follow-on staff reports, that a failure to provide notice and obtain affirmative opt-in consent for the collection of precise geolocation information could give rise to a cause of action for deception under Section 5 of the FTC Act.Then, when the FTC settled a case (Goldenshores), alleging violations of Section 5 relating to an Android app’s collection, use and disclosure of precise geolocation from users’ devices, the order imposed specific parameters on the out-of-policy notice and choice that the app had to provide — effectively creating a new notice and choice regime for the collection, use and disclosure of such information that companies ignore at their peril.By contrast, theThen, when the FTC settled a case (Goldenshores), alleging violations of Section 5 relating to an Android app’s collection, use and disclosure of precise geolocation from users’ devices, the order imposed specific parameters on the out-of-policy notice and choice that the app had to provide — effectively creating a new notice and choice regime for the collection, use and disclosure of such information that companies ignore at their peril.By contrast, theBy contrast, the <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/federal-trade-commission-staff-report-self-regulatory-principles-online-behavioral-advertising/p085400behavadreport.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">narrow approach the FTC has taken with Nomi</a> raises the question of whether the FTC would ever impose a notice and choice obligation for offline, retail tracking. We have no certainty around the FTC’s view, but it is reasonable to anticipate that the FTC will move in a direction that mirrors its position with respect to online tracking — that is, that at least when information is collected for targeted advertising purposes, a company should provide meaningful disclosures to consumers about the tracking and choice with respect to whether to allow it.[2] The FTC could ultimately deem a failure to provide such notice and/or choice an unfair and/or deceptive practice under Section 5 of the FTC Act.What does this mean for retailers and other places of business? In light of Nomi and our expectations with respect to the direction the FTC is likely to take, companies that engage in in-store tracking should consider how best to provide their customers with notice and choice. Whatever the FTC does, it will probably move conservatively. That means that the FTC is likely to continue to identify practices as violations of Section 5 if they can be remedied without stifling retail tracking technology as it matures.The Nomi complaint presents two interrelated themes that provide a guide to future enforcement. First, choice must be linked to notice, meaning that, as far as the FTC is concerned, consumers do not have meaningful choice unless they also have notice at the point of collection, even if notice is provided only in a privacy policy only. Nomi can thus be read to suggest that, at least in some circumstances, choice with regard to virtual tracking needs to be accompanied by notice in the brick-and-mortar world. Second, the complaint suggests, obliquely, that tracking consumers’ physical activities is “material” — i.e., that it is likely to affect the consumer’s conduct. If that is right, then this type of tracking must be disclosed to consumers because the failure to make such a disclosure would be, axiomatically, a material omission.How should retailers proceed? One option is to track only those customers who have downloaded the retailer’s app and affirmatively agreed to be tracked for identified purposes, such as the delivery of targeted offers. Another option is to use a vendor that subscribes to the Future of Privacy Forum Mobile Location Analytics Code of Conduct, which requires participating mobile location analytics companies to, among other things, provide consumers with appropriate notice and choice. These types of compliance strategies could help protect companies from the next possible phase of FTC enforcement in this space, since they address what appear to be, for now, the most direct ways to avoid conducting retail tracking without providing notice and choice.

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Clients seek out Julie because of her practical advice on cutting-edge issues at the intersection of privacy and consumer protection laws. She provides clients with practical solutions to compliance c

Julie O'Neill

Clients seek out Julie because of her practical advice on cutting-edge issues at the intersection of privacy and consumer protection laws. She provides clients with practical solutions to compliance challenges around a wide variety of both online and offline privacy issues, including tracking, interest-based advertising, geo-targeting and other mobile tracking, personalization, and cross-device tracking. Recognized in The Legal 500 US 2014, 2016, 2019, and 2020 and Chambers USA 2021 for her exceptional legal work, her clients praise her saying, “She is really good at giving practical, targeted advice and taking stock of what the risk profile of the client is, so that the advice is holistic.” (Chambers USA 2021).

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The FTC Weighs in on In-Store Tracking. Or Does It?

The FTC Weighs in on In-Store Tracking. Or Does It?

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 m

Virginia’s highest court <a href="http://www.citizen.org/documents/yelp-v-hadeed-virginia-supreme-court-opinion.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recently held</a> that Yelp could not be forced to turn over the identities of anonymous online reviewers that a Virginia carpet-cleaning owner claimed tarnished his business.In the summer of 2012, Joseph Hadeed, owner of Hadeed Carpet Cleaning, sued seven anonymous Yelp reviewers after receiving a series of critical reviews. Hadeed alleged that the reviewers were competitors masking themselves as Hadeed’s customers and that his sales tanked after the reviews were posted. Hadeed sued the reviewers as John Doe defendants for defamation and then subpoenaed Yelp, demanding that it reveal the reviewers’ identities.Yelp argued that, without any proof that the reviewers were not Hadeed’s customers, the reviewers had a First Amendment right to post anonymously.A Virginia trial court and the Court of Appeals sided with Hadeed, ordering Yelp to turn over the reviewers’ identities and holding it in contempt when it did not. But in April 2015, the Virginia Supreme Court vacated the lower court decisions on procedural grounds. Because Virginia’s legislature did not give Virginia’s state courts subpoena power over non-resident non-parties, the Supreme Court concluded, the Virginia trial court could not order the California-headquartered Yelp to produce documents located in California for Hadeed’s defamation action in Virginia.Although the decision was a victory for Yelp, it was a narrow one, resting on procedural grounds. The Virginia Supreme Court did not address the broader First Amendment argument about anonymous posting and noted that it wouldn’t quash the subpoena because Hadeed could still try to enforce it under California law.After the ruling, Yelp’s senior director of litigation, Aaron Schur, posted a statement on the company’s blog stating that, if Hadeed pursued the subpoena in California, Yelp would “continue to fight for the rights of these reviewers under the reasonable standards that California courts, and the First Amendment, require (standards we pushed the Virginia courts to adopt).” Schur added, “Fortunately the right to speak under a pseudonym is constitutionally protected and has long been recognized for the important information it allows individuals to contribute to public discourse.”In 2009, a <a href="http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/CCP/3/4/3/2/s1987.2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">California law</a> took effect, allowing anonymous Internet speakers whose identity is sought under a subpoena in California in connection with a lawsuit filed in another state to challenge the subpoena and recover attorneys’ fees if they are successful. In his Yelp post, Schur added that Hadeed’s case “highlights the need for stronger online free speech protection in Virginia and across the country.”Had Hadeed sought to enforce the subpoena in California, the result may have been the same but possibly on different grounds. In California, where Yelp and many other social media companies are headquartered, the company would have been subject to a court’s subpoena power. Still, Yelp may have been protected from having to disclose its users’ identities. California courts have offered protections for anonymous speech under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the state constitutional right of privacy.Nevertheless, there is no uniform rule as to whether companies must reveal identifying information of their anonymous users. In 2013, in <a href="http://www.technologylawsource.com/files/2013/08/ChevronCorp-v-Donziger.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chevron v. Danziger</a>, federal Magistrate Judge Nathanael M. Cousins of the Northern District of California concluded that Chevron’s subpoenas seeking identifying information of non-party Gmail and Yahoo Mail users were enforceable against Google and Yahoo, respectively, because the subpoenas did not seek expressive activity and because there is no privacy interest in subscriber and user information associated with email addresses.On the other hand, in March 2015, Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler of the same court held, in <a href="http://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1928&context=historical" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Music Group Macao Commercial Offshore Ltd. v. Does</a>, that the plaintiffs could not compel nonparty Twitter to reveal the identifying information of its anonymous users, who, as in the Hadeed case, were Doe defendants. Music Group Macao sued the Doe defendants in Washington federal court for anonymously tweeting disparaging remarks about the company, its employees, and its CEO. After the Washington court ruled that the plaintiffs could obtain the identifying information from Twitter, the plaintiffs sought to enforce the subpoena in California. Magistrate Judge Bheeler concluded that the Doe defendants’ First Amendment rights to speak anonymously outweighed the plaintiffs’ need for the requested information, citing familiar concerns that forcing Twitter to disclose the speakers’ identities would unduly chill protected speech.Courts in other jurisdictions have imposed a range of evidentiary burdens on plaintiffs seeking the disclosure of anonymous Internet speakers. For example, federal courts in <a href="http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=18210719661021246313&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Connecticut</a> and <a href="http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=14955773971395308767&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York</a> have required plaintiffs to make a prima facie showing of their claims before requiring internet service providers (ISPs) to disclose anonymous defendants’ identities. A federal court in <a href="http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=3110990154731407814&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Washington</a> found that a higher standard should apply when a subpoena seeks the identity of an Internet user who is not a party to the litigation. The <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1472540/doe-v-cahill/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Delaware Supreme Court</a> has applied an even higher standard, expressing concern “that setting the standard too low will chill potential posters from exercising their First Amendment right to speak anonymously.”These cases show that courts are continuing to grapple with social media as a platform for expressive activity. Although Yelp and Twitter were protected from having to disclose their anonymous users’ identities in these two recent cases, this area of law remains unsettled, and companies with social media presence should be familiar with the free speech and privacy law in the states where they conduct business and monitor courts’ treatment of these evolving issues.

L.W. v. Snap Inc.,  675 F. Supp. 3d 1087 

Wamai v. Industrial Bank of Korea , 2021 WL 3038402 

In re Maxus Energy Corp.

In re Energy Future Holdings Corp.

James Paul McCartney v. Sony/ATV Publishing LLC

NFL Enterprises LLC v. EchoStar Satellite LLC

VOOM HD Holdings LLC v. EchoStar Satellite LLC

Change Healthcare Operations, LLC v WebMD Health Corp. 2017 WL 6610411  

Register.com, Inc. v. Verio, Inc.

Komag, Inc. v. Asahi Glass Co. Ltd.

Asante Techs. Inc. v. PMC–Sierra, Inc.

Biovail Corp. v. S.A.C. Capital Mgmt. 2009 WL 2844404 

Multi–Faceted Investigation of University Grants

Confidential International Arbitrations

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Alex advises on all aspects of complex commercial litigation in federal and state trial and appellate courts and in arbitration. He has represented U.S. and international clients in actions involving 

J. Lawrence

J. Alexander Lawrence

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Court Protects Anonymity of Yelp Users

Court Protects Anonymity of Yelp Users