| 1 | Gripes to Coworkers and Sarcastic Demand to Be Fired on ... The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel's Office recently released an advice memorandum in Tasker Healthcare Group, providing guidance on whether an employee's discussions via Facebook message with current and former co-workers about an employer were protected and concerted under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). | Legal Update: archive | 22-May-2013 |
| 2 | Amended COPPA Rule Effective July 1, 2013 A discussion of key changes to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule that become effective July 1, 2013. | Legal Update: archive | 17-May-2013 |
| 3 | SDNY Reconsiders MP3tunes in Light of Second Circuit's ... On May 14, 2013, the US District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) issued an opinion in Capitol Records, Inc. v. MP3tunes, LLC granting in part motions to reconsider its October 25, 2011 Memorandum and Order in light of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit's decision in Viacom International, Inc. v. YouTube, Inc. Most notably, the SDNY granted the plaintiffs' motion for reconsideration as to the issue of willful blindness and red flag knowledge. | Legal Update: archive | 17-May-2013 |
| 4 | New Colorado Law Bars Employers from Requesting ... Colorado recently enacted House Bill 13-1046, which prohibits an employer from requesting, requiring or causing employees or applicants to disclose social media user names or passwords. | Legal Update: archive | 15-May-2013 |
| 5 | New Arkansas Law Bars Employers from Requiring or ... Arkansas recently enacted Act 1480, which prohibits an employer from requiring or requesting a current or prospective employee to disclose his username or password for a social media account. | Legal Update: archive | 25-Apr-2013 |
| 6 | District of New Jersey: Joinder Appropriate in BitTorrent Case The US District Court for the District of New Jersey held in Malibu Media, LLC v. John Does 1-11 that joinder of multiple John Doe defendants was appropriate in a copyright infringement action alleging unauthorized copying of works through the BitTorrent protocol. | Legal Update: archive | 23-Apr-2013 |
| 7 | Mobile App Development: Key Legal Considerations A discussion of key legal issues companies should consider and address when developing and distributing mobile applications (apps) for download by end users. | Legal Update: archive | 22-Apr-2013 |
| 8 | SDNY Again Finds in Favor of YouTube on Remand On April 18, 2013, in Viacom v. YouTube, the US District Court for the Southern District of New York granted the renewed motion for summary judgment in favor of the defendants, YouTube, Inc and Google, Inc., and held that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's (DMCA) safe harbor provisions protected the defendant service providers. The case was before the SDNY on remand from the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. | Legal Update: archive | 22-Apr-2013 |
| 9 | FTC Seeks Input on Privacy and Security Risks of Smart ... In advance of a public workshop, the FTC is seeking public comments on consumer privacy and security issues posed by the growing connectivity of consumer devices, like cars, appliances, and medical devices. | Legal Update: archive | 18-Apr-2013 |
| 10 | US Department of Commerce Clarifies whether US-EU Safe ... The Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued guidance clarifying the US-EU Safe Harbor Framework and how it applies to the transfer of personal data from the EU to the US via cloud computing. Significantly, the ITA does not view cloud computing as an entirely new business model or as presenting unique issues for the Safe Harbor. | Legal Update: archive | 18-Apr-2013 |
| 11 | New Mexico Law Bars Employers from Requesting Login ... New Mexico recently enacted the No Social Media Access for Employers Act (SB 371), which prohibits employers from requesting or requiring that a prospective employee provide a password or access to the prospective employee's social networking account. | Legal Update: archive | 15-Apr-2013 |
| 12 | New Utah Law Bars Employers from Requesting Login ... Utah recently enacted the Internet Employment Privacy Act (IEPA), which bans employers from asking employees and job applicants to provide login information for their personal internet accounts. | Legal Update: archive | 05-Apr-2013 |
| 13 | Group Griping on Employees' Private Group Facebook Page ... The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently released guidance from last year regarding NLRB prosecutorial views about the lawfulness of discipline related to employee posts on social media. | Legal Update: archive | 04-Apr-2013 |
| 14 | Drafting DMCA Takedown Notices This Legal Update provides guidance and drafting tips for takedown notices under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). | Legal Update: archive | 02-Apr-2013 |
| 15 | Ninth Circuit Aligns with Second Circuit on DMCA Safe Harbor ... In UMG Recordings, Inc. v. Shelter Capital Partners, Inc., the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals withdrew its December 20, 2011 opinion and filed a superseding opinion, which is largely the same but clarifies the reasoning supporting its decision that the Section 512(c) safe harbor provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) applied to Veoh Networks insulating it from copyright liability based on its users' activity. | Legal Update: archive | 18-Mar-2013 |
| 16 | FTC Releases Revised Online Advertising Disclosures The FTC recently released a revised version of its online advertising disclosure guidelines. The new guidelines reflect the expanding use of smartphones and social media in marketing and advertising. | Legal Update: archive | 15-Mar-2013 |
| 17 | Employer's Access of Employee's LinkedIn Account Does Not ... In Eagle v. Morgan, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania granted partial summary judgment in a case involving an employer's alleged wrongful access to and control of a former employee's LinkedIn account. The court granted summary judgment to the employer on the plaintiff's Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) and Lanham Act claims, but allowed the plaintiff's state law claims to proceed. This case highlights the importance of instituting and maintaining social media policies addressing the ownership of social media accounts during and following employment. | Legal Update: archive | 13-Mar-2013 |
| 18 | Court Dismisses Data Security Suit Against LinkedIn for Lack ... In In re LinkedIn User Privacy Litigation, the US District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed a class action lawsuit against LinkedIn stemming from a breach of its system because the plaintiffs, two LinkedIn users, failed to allege a sufficient injury under Article III's case or controversy requirement. | Legal Update: archive | 11-Mar-2013 |
| 19 | FTC Seeks Public Comment on Proposed HTC America ... The FTC is seeking public comment on a proprosed consent order applicable to HTC America, Inc. | Legal Update: archive | 28-Feb-2013 |
| 20 | ICANN announces launch date of its trade mark clearing ... ICANN has announced that on 26 March 2013 it will launch its trade mark clearing house, a centralised repository for trade mark data, giving access to sunrise registration and a trade mark claims service. | Legal Update: archive | 27-Feb-2013 |
| 21 | NIST Issues Request for Information as First Step in ... The National Institute of Standards and Technology has issued a request for information as a first step in developing a Cybersecurity Framework for critical infrastructure, pursuant to President Obama's executive order on cybersecurity. | Legal Update: archive | 27-Feb-2013 |
| 22 | HTC America Settles FTC Charges for Failure to Secure ... On February 22, 2013, HTC America, Inc. settled FTC charges that it failed to use reasonable and appropriate security measures in developing and customizing software for its smartphones and tablet computers, placing consumers’ sensitive information at risk. | Legal Update: archive | 22-Feb-2013 |
| 23 | PCI Council Releases Guidance on Mobile Payment Security The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) published the PCI Mobile Payment Acceptance Security Guidelines for Merchants as End-Users. The guidelines highlight the factors and risks that merchants should address to protect card data when using mobile devices to accept payments. | Legal Update: archive | 19-Feb-2013 |
| 24 | Unpopular Employee's Facebook Post Unprotected by NLRA ... The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has released further guidance to employers regarding NLRB prosecutorial views about lawfulness of discipline related to employee posts on social media and employment policies that concern employees' use of social media. | Legal Update: archive | 19-Feb-2013 |
| 25 | European Commission publishes cybersecurity strategy and ... The European Commission has published a proposal for a directive to ensure a high common level of network and information security across the EU and, at the same time, a communication setting out an EU cybersecurity strategy, a key element of which is the directive. (Free access.) | Legal Update: archive | 14-Feb-2013 |
| 26 | European Council publishes comparative table of draft Data ... The European Council has published a comparative table of the Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Directive. | Legal Update: archive | 14-Feb-2013 |
| 27 | Obama Issues Cybersecurity Executive Order President Obama issued an Executive Order intended to improve the cybersecurity of the US's critical infrastructure. In accordance with the order, NIST announced development of a new, voluntary cybersecurity framework. | Legal Update: archive | 13-Feb-2013 |
| 28 | Commercial Use of Photos on Twitter is Copyright ... In Agence France Presse v. Morel, the US District Court for the Southern District of New York held that it is copyright infringement for a news agency to remove photographs posted to Twitter and license them to others, rejecting the news agency's argument that Twitter's terms of service permitted this use. | Legal Update: archive | 21-Jan-2013 |
| 29 | FTC Warns Small Businesses of E-mail Scam On January 14, 2013, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warned small businesses of a scam e-mail falsely claiming to be from the FTC. | Legal Update: archive | 15-Jan-2013 |
| 30 | European Commission publishes code of online rights The European Commission has published a code of online rights, collating rights that are to be accorded to citizens of the EU in the course of their use of electronic services and networks. | Legal Update: archive | 27-Dec-2012 |
| 31 | WOMMA Releases Social Media Marketing Disclosure Guide The Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) recently released an updated Guide to Disclosure in Social Media Marketing aimed at helping marketers to comply with FTC endorsement guidelines. The guide outlines best practices and provides sample language that marketers can use to avoid enforcement action. | Legal Update: archive | 08-Oct-2012 |
| 32 | Facebook Firing Lawful; Employer's "Courtesy" Rule ... In Karl Knauz Motors, Inc., the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) upheld the termination of an employee for Facebook comments that were not protected under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The NLRB also held that an employer's rule requiring employees to treat others with courtesy and to refrain from using language that is disrespectful or harmful to the employer's image and reputation unlawfully restricted Section 7 activity. | Legal Update: archive | 02-Oct-2012 |
| 33 | Arbitration Clause in Browsewrap Agreement Found ... In Zappos.com, Inc., Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, the US District Court for the District of Nevada held that an arbitration provision is not enforceable when it is included in a browsewrap agreement's terms of use if a reasonable user of the site would not have been able to see its terms. | Legal Update: archive | 28-Sep-2012 |
| 34 | Arbitration Clause Provided in Follow-up E-mail not Binding ... In Schnabel v. Trilegiant Corp., the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of the defendants' motion to compel arbitration, concluding that the plaintiff consumers were not bound to arbitrate based on an arbitration clause that was provided to the plaintiffs after they enrolled in the defendants' service online. | Legal Update: archive | 11-Sep-2012 |
| 35 | NLRB Invalidates Electronic Posting Rule in First Published ... In Costco Wholesale Corp., the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) held that Costco's electronic posting policy, which prohibits electronically posted statements that "damage the Company, defame any individual or damage any person's reputation," violates the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) because it could deter employees from engaging in Section 7 protected communications critical of Costco. | Legal Update: archive | 11-Sep-2012 |
| 36 | FTC Publishes Guide for Mobile App Developers on Privacy ... The FTC announced its publication of a guide intended to help mobile app developers observe truth-in-advertising and basic privacy principles. The guide is entitled ''Marketing Your Mobile App: Get It Right from the Start." | Legal Update: archive | 06-Sep-2012 |
| 37 | Contributory Trademark Infringement Claim Against Amazon ... In an unpublished decision, a California appellate court affirmed the denial of a preliminary injunction against Amazon.com, Inc. The court found that Tre Milano, LLC was unlikely to succeed on the merits of its claims against Amazon for direct and contributory trademark infringement for allowing third parties to sell counterfeits of its product through Amazon's website. | Legal Update: archive | 28-Aug-2012 |
| 38 | Second Circuit Affirms Copyright Infringement Preliminary ... In WPIX, Inc. v. ivi, Inc., the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of a preliminary injunction for WPIX and other broadcasting company plaintiffs against ivi, Inc.'s streaming television service. The court rejected ivi's defense that its streaming internet television service was a cable system under Section 111 of the Copyright Act. | Legal Update: archive | 28-Aug-2012 |
| 39 | Sixth Circuit Finds No Personal Jurisdiction in Online ... In Community Trust Bancorp, Inc. v. Community Trust Financial Corp., the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed the district court's finding of personal jurisdiction over the defendants. The Sixth Circuit held that the plaintiff failed to prove that its trademark infringement cause of action arose from the defendant's activities in the forum state, namely, allowing a handful of Kentucky customers to access their online bank accounts with the defendants. | Legal Update: archive | 27-Aug-2012 |
| 40 | FTC Settles Privacy Complaints Against Google and ... The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a settlement with Google Inc., over charges that Google violated an earlier privacy settlement with the FTC by misrepresenting to users of Apple Inc.'s Safari internet browser that it would not place tracking cookies on their computers or serve them targeted ads. Google agreed to pay a record $22.5 million civil penalty and disable all the improper tracking cookies. The FTC also announced that it has accepted as final a settlement with Facebook resolving charges that Facebook deceived consumers by telling them that their information could be kept private on Facebook, but repeatedly allowing it to be made public. | Legal Update: archive | 10-Aug-2012 |
| 41 | New Illinois Law Bars Employers from Requesting Login ... Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed into law HB 3782, which bars employers from requesting login information or demanding access to employees' and applicants' accounts on social networking websites. The law is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2013. | Legal Update: archive | 03-Aug-2012 |
| 42 | FTC Proposes Additional Revisions to the Children's Online ... On August 1, 2012, the FTC issued additional proposed revisions to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule. The proposed revisions modify the definitions of various terms in an effort to clarify the scope of the Rule and to strengthen its protections for the online collection, use and disclosure of children's personal information. | Legal Update: archive | 01-Aug-2012 |
| 43 | CFAA Does Not Provide Cause of Action Against Former ... In WEC Carolina Energy Solutions v. Miller, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that an employer failed to state a claim against a former employee under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) where the employee allegedly used confidential information to help the employer's competitor. The employer authorized the employee to access the information, but argued that the employee's unauthorized use of the information violated the CFAA. The Fourth Circuit held that the CFAA only prohibits unauthorized access to information stored on a computer. | Legal Update: archive | 30-Jul-2012 |
| 44 | ECJ rules non-licensee ineligible to register .eu domain on ... The ECJ has ruled that a party which was under contract to a trade mark owner to register a .eu domain on behalf of the trade mark owner but which was not licensed to use the trade mark commercially was not a licensee of prior rights for the purpose of the sunrise provisions of Regulation 874/2004 on the rules on implementing the .eu TLD. (Pie Optiek SPRL v Bureau Gevers SA and another, Case C 376/11, 19 July 2012.) | Legal Update: archive | 19-Jul-2012 |
| 45 | Article 29 Working Party opinion on cloud computing The Article 29 Data Protection Working Party has adopted an opinion setting out the data protection risks and concerns associated with cloud computing and making a series of recommendations on how to mitigate them. | Legal Update: archive | 05-Jul-2012 |
| 46 | ICANN announces new gTLD name applications ICANN has announced outline details of applications for new generic top-level domain names. | Legal Update: archive | 14-Jun-2012 |
| 47 | European Commission consults on notice and take-down ... The European Commission has issued a consultation paper on the procedures for notifying and acting on illegal content hosted by online intermediaries. Note: On 5 September 2012, the deadline for responding to this consultation was extended until 11 September 2012. | Legal Update: archive | 04-Jun-2012 |
| 48 | NLRB General Counsel Issues Third Report on Employees' ... The General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) released a third report on employees' use of social media, focusing on employers' social media policies. | Legal Update: archive | 31-May-2012 |
| 49 | FTC and Myspace Settle Charges over Disclosure of Users' ... The FTC announced an agreement with Myspace to settle charges that Myspace misrepresented its protection of users' personal information and its compliance with the US-EU Safe Harbor Framework. The FTC complaint alleged that Myspace's actions were deceptive acts or practices that violated Section 5(a) of the FTC Act. | Legal Update: archive | 08-May-2012 |
| 50 | New Maryland Law Bars Employers from Requesting Login ... On May 2, 2012, Maryland became the first state to bar employers from seeking login information from employees or applicants for personal electronic accounts, including social media accounts, when Governor Martin O'Malley signed the User Name and Password Privacy Protection and Exclusions law. The law also prohibits employees from downloading an employer's proprietary information. The law is scheduled to take effect on October 1, 2012. | Legal Update: archive | 03-May-2012 |
| 51 | Internet Surfing on Company Computers Is Not Criminal ... On April 10, 2012, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an en banc decision in US v. Nosal, holding that employees who are authorized to access their employer's computers but use them in violation of company computer-use policy cannot be prosecuted for a federal crime under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. | Legal Update: archive | 11-Apr-2012 |
| 52 | Fourth Circuit Reinstates Rosetta Stone v. Google, Addressing ... In Rosetta Stone Ltd. v. Google, Inc., the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit overturned a district court's grant of summary judgment for Google on Rosetta Stone's claims for direct trademark infringement, contributory trademark infringement and trademark dilution based on Google's sale of Rosetta Stone's trademarks as advertising keywords and use of those trademarks in sponsored advertisements. | Legal Update: archive | 10-Apr-2012 |
| 53 | Second Circuit Reinstates Viacom v. YouTube, Addressing ... On April 5, 2012, in Viacom v. YouTube, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reinstated Viacom's billion dollar copyright infringement litigation against YouTube. In its decision the court addressed the contours of safe harbor protection for online service providers under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA). | Legal Update: archive | 06-Apr-2012 |
| 54 | ISPs Agree to Implement CSRIC Recommendations for ... On March 22, 2012, the Communications, Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council (CSRIC), an industry advisory committee for the Federal Communication Committee (FCC), adopted recommendations for internet service providers (ISP) to protect against three major cybersecurity threats. The ISPs committed to carry out the recommendations. | Legal Update: archive | 26-Mar-2012 |
| 55 | French data protection authority sends privacy questions to ... The French data protection authority CNIL has sent a list of 69 questions to Google Inc on various aspects of its data protection procedures. | Legal Update: archive | 21-Mar-2012 |
| 56 | ICANN Publishes Thought Paper on Domain Seizures and ... The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) published a thought paper to assist parties preparing legal or regulatory actions understand the kind of information top level domain name registration providers will need to respond promptly and effectively to a legal or regulatory order or action. | Legal Update: archive | 09-Mar-2012 |
| 57 | French data protection authority criticises new Google privacy ... The French data protection authority, CNIL, has written to Google, saying that Google's new privacy policy does not meet the requirements of the Data Protection Directive (95/46/EC). | Legal Update: archive | 28-Feb-2012 |
| 58 | Mobile Background Screening Apps May Be Consumer ... The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a sample letter warning mobile application marketers that their background screening applications could qualify as consumer reporting agencies under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). | Legal Update: archive | 07-Feb-2012 |
| 59 | WIPO outlines ICANN's trade mark rights protection ... WIPO has outlined ICANN's trade mark rights protection and dispute resolution mechanisms for the new generic top-level domains. | Legal Update: archive | 02-Feb-2012 |
| 60 | NLRB General Counsel Issues Second Report Concerning ... The General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) released a report dated January 24, 2012 that summarizes its guidance in recent unfair labor practice (ULP) cases involving employer responses to employees' use of social media. The report provides guidance on the lawfulness of employer social media policies under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). | Legal Update: archive | 26-Jan-2012 |
| 61 | ICANN Begins Accepting New Generic Top-Level Domain ... The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) began accepting applications for new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) as part of its gTLD expansion program. Applications are being accepted through April 12, 2012 but applicants must register by March 29, 2012. | Legal Update: archive | 12-Jan-2012 |
| 62 | ICANN opens applications for new generic top-level domain ... ICANN has confirmed that it is ready for the launch of new generic top-level domain names from 12 January 2012. | Legal Update: archive | 09-Jan-2012 |
| 63 | Ninth Circuit Upholds DMCA Safe Harbor for Online Video ... In UMG Recordings, Inc. v. Shelter Capital Partners, Inc., the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's summary judgment ruling that Section 512(c) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) (the system storage safe harbor) insulated Veoh Networks from copyright liability resulting from acts of its users. | Legal Update: archive | 28-Dec-2011 |
| 64 | Class Action Against Facebook Survives Motion to Dismiss The US District Court for the Northern District of California denied in part Facebook's motion to dismiss a class action asserting, among other claims, right of publicity violations based on Facebook's use of its users' names and likenesses in its Sponsored Stories advertising. Facebook sought dismissal asserting that, among other grounds, it is protected from liability as an interactive computer service under the federal Communications Decency Act, Facebook users' "likes" fall within the newsworthiness exception to California's right of publicity statute, the plaintiff's failed to allege sufficient injury and, in any case, the plaintiffs consented to the use based on Facebook's terms of use. | Legal Update: archive | 21-Dec-2011 |
| 65 | ICANN revises fast-track process for internationalised domain ... ICANN has published a revised fast-track process implementation plan for internationalised domain names. | Legal Update: archive | 20-Dec-2011 |
| 66 | General Launch of .xxx Domain Names ICM Registry began making .xxx domain names available to the general public. Domain names are available on a first come, first serve basis to any applicant, although the registered domain names will only be active for users in the adult industry. | Legal Update: archive | 09-Dec-2011 |
| 67 | ICANN enhances terms and conditions for registrar ... ICANN has published enhanced terms and conditions for registrar accreditation applications. | Legal Update: archive | 05-Oct-2011 |
| 68 | ICANN publishes guidebook for new gTLD applicants and ... ICANN has published its guidebook for applicants for new generic top-level domains (gTLD) , following its consultations on earlier draft versions. It has also launched a new micro-site for information about the new gTLD programme and a platform for organisations to work together. | Legal Update: archive | 20-Sep-2011 |
| 69 | NLRB General Counsel Issues Report on Emerging Issues ... The General Counsel of the NLRB released a report on August 18, 2011 that summarizes its guidance in recent unfair labor practice cases involving employer responses to employees' use of social media. The report clarifies the kind of employee speech protected by the NLRA. | Legal Update: archive | 23-Aug-2011 |
| 70 | NLRA Does Not Protect All Employee Comments in Social ... Three advice memoranda from the General Counsel's office of the NLRB acknowledge that there are limits to the kinds of employee comments on social media that the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) protects. | Legal Update: archive | 12-Aug-2011 |