Much like the "Cloud computing revolution" there is an almost frenzied excitement around social media, and many companies are stampeding to exploit social networking. The promise of increased intimate customer interactions, input and loyalty, and enhanced sales and expanded market share can result in some organizations overlooking the thorny issues arising out of social networking. Many of these issues are legal in nature and could increase the legal risk and liability potential of an organization employing a social media strategy.In this multi-part series the InfoLawGroup will identify and explore the legal implications of social media. This series will help organizations begin to identify some of the legal risks associated with social media so that they may start addressing and mitigating these risks while maximizing their social media strategy. In Part One of the series, we will provide a high level overview of the legal risks and issues associated with an organization's use of social media. In subsequent parts members of the InfoLawGroup team will take a deeper dive into these matters, and provide some practical insight and strategic direction for addressing these issues. As always, we view our series as the beginning of a broader conversation between ourselves and the larger community, and we welcome and strongly encourage comments, concerns, corrections and criticisms.
In business or technical discussions with potential investors, customers, suppliers, licensors, franchisees, or joint venture partners, it is often very difficult to determine how much needs to be disclosed and exactly who "owns" which information and ideas. Were the parties just brainstorming? Did they independently develop a similar approach to a problem? Litigation over NDAs can be costly, public, and ultimately unsatisfactory to the party claiming a breach, especially if it is hard to prove the intended scope of the agreement and the actual source of information. When is it worthwhile using NDAs, and how can they be made more effective?
We are thrilled to announce the official launch of the InformationLawGroup! The InformationLawGroup is a group of attorneys that love the law and technology. We concentrate on legal issues concerning privacy, data security, information technology, e-commerce and intellectual property. We are a full service firm addressing a broad spectrum of matters, including transactions, compliance, breach notice and incident response and litigation. We come together today after many years in large law firm and in-house roles. We are seasoned attorneys, including former "BigLaw" lawyers, smaller practitioners with clearly defined expertise and reputation in the field, and former in-house lawyers with specific information law experience and talent. These factors result in greatly increased efficiency and better results at a significantly lower price for the firm's clients. So who are we? Read more after the jump.