Socially Aware

February 03, 2013 - Privacy, Employment Law, Litigation
Socially Aware Looks Back: The Social Media Law Year in Review
2012 was a momentous year for social media law. We’ve combed through the court decisions, the legislative initiatives, the regulatory actions and the corporate trends to identify what we believe to be the ten most significant social media law developments of the past year–here
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January 23, 2013 - Trademark, Privacy, Copyright, IP, Litigation
Be Wary of Sharing: Anonymous P2P User’s Motion to Quash Subpoena Denied
By: J. Alexander Lawrence
BitTorrent, the peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing system that enables the quick downloading of large files, has sparked another novel controversy stemming from copyright-infringement claims brought against its users. Users take advantage of the BitTorrent sharing system to anonymously access popular media such as books and
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January 17, 2013 - Privacy, Litigation
Jailbreak: U.S. Google Executives’ Italian Convictions Overturned
On December 21, 2012, the third Milan appeals court acquitted three U.S.-based Google executives who had previously been convicted for breaches of Italian data protection law after Google failed to remove an abusive video from its Google Video site. The video, which showed schoolboys
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January 10, 2013 - FTC, Privacy
FTC Issues Substantially Revised COPPA Rule, Effective July 1, 2013: Review of Changes and Compliance Tips
By: Julie O'Neill
On December 19, 2012, the Federal Trade Commission (“Commission”) announced long-awaited amendments to its rule implementing the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“Rule”). The changes—which take effect on July 1, 2013—are significant. They alter the scope and obligations of the Rule in a number
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December 18, 2012 - FTC, Privacy
FTC Snuffs Out Online “History Sniffing”
By: Julie O'Neill
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has cracked down on a company that was engaged in “history sniffing,” a means of online tracking that digs up information embedded in web browsers to reveal the websites that users have visited. In a proposed settlement with Epic
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November 11, 2012 - FTC, Privacy
California A.G. Makes Good on Promise to Pursue Apps That Don’t Comply With the State’s Privacy Policy Law
By: Julie O'Neill
On October 30, 2012, California Attorney General Kamala Harris announced that her office would begin notifying the developers of as many as 100 mobile apps that their apps do not comply with the state’s Online Privacy Protection Act (OPPA) and that they have 30
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September 28, 2012 - Privacy, Employment Law
New California Law Limits Employer Access to Employee Social Media Accounts
On September 27, 2012, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill that restricts employer access to the “personal social media” of employees and applicants for employment. Assembly Bill 1844 (“AB 1844”) adds to the California Labor Code new section 980. Under this section, an
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September 10, 2012 - FTC, Privacy
FTC Issues Guidance for Mobile App Privacy and Advertising; Signals More Enforcement Coming
On September 5, 2012, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published a brief guide to assist developers of mobile applications, both large and small, in complying with truth-in-advertising, privacy, and data security principles. In publishing this advice, the FTC makes clear that its Section 5
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August 14, 2012 - Privacy, Employment Law, Litigation
Update: What’s Not to Like?
As we reported earlier this year, the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia held in Bland v. Roberts that merely “liking” a Facebook page is insufficient speech to merit constitutional protection. In the case, former employees of the Hampton Sheriff’s Office
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August 03, 2012 - FTC, Privacy
More Change Coming: The FTC Proposes Further Significant Changes to Its COPPA Rule
By: Julie O'Neill
The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (“COPPA”), which became effective in April 2000, has long served as the primary regulatory tool of the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) to police online privacy issues concerning children under 13. The COPPA Rule (the “Rule”),
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Topic Archives: Privacy

Socially Aware Looks Back: The Social Media Law Year in Review

Be Wary of Sharing: Anonymous P2P User’s Motion to Quash Subpoena Denied

By: J. Alexander Lawrence

Jailbreak: U.S. Google Executives’ Italian Convictions Overturned

FTC Issues Substantially Revised COPPA Rule, Effective July 1, 2013: Review of Changes and Compliance Tips

By: Julie O'Neill

FTC Snuffs Out Online “History Sniffing”

By: Julie O'Neill

California A.G. Makes Good on Promise to Pursue Apps That Don’t Comply With the State’s Privacy Policy Law

By: Julie O'Neill

New California Law Limits Employer Access to Employee Social Media Accounts

FTC Issues Guidance for Mobile App Privacy and Advertising; Signals More Enforcement Coming

Update: What’s Not to Like?

More Change Coming: The FTC Proposes Further Significant Changes to Its COPPA Rule

By: Julie O'Neill