Insights on social media

CAN-SPAM, DMCA, Nihar Shah, social media, Terms of Service

Social Media Networks Seek to Control Use of Their Products Through TOS Enforcement

By InfoLawGroup LLP on April 27, 2012

This is significant because in the past, platforms have utilized federal laws such as CAN-SPAM, which prohibits sending misleading electronic communications, to punish the most egregious spammers. If Twitter prevails in this lawsuit, it puts all users on notice that there is monetary liability for breaching a platform's TOS, which significantly expands the ability of a social media company to reign in prohibited activity by users.

Facebook, LinkedIn, privacy, Security, security breach, security measures, social media, social network, trade secrets, twitter

The Legal Implications of Social Networking Part Three: Data Security

By InfoLawGroup LLP on January 09, 2012

In 2011, InfoLawGroup began its "Legal Implications" series for social media by posting Part One (The Basics) and Part Two (Privacy). In this post (Part Three), we explore how security concerns and legal risk arise and interact in the social media environment.There are three main security-related issues that pose potential security-related legal risk. First, to the extent that employees are accessing and using social media sites from company computers (or increasingly from personal computers connected to company networks or storing sensitive company data), malware, phishing and social engineering attacks could result in security breaches and legal liability. Second, spoofing and impersonation attacks on social networks could pose legal risks. In this case, the risk includes fake fan pages or fraudulent social media personas that appear to be legitimately operated. Third, information leakage is a risk in the social media context that could result in an adverse business and legal impact when confidential information is compromised.

California, economic, followers, Fox News, Kravitz, Phonedog, social media, trade secrets, twitter, value

Twitter Followers = Trade Secrets?

By InfoLawGroup LLP on January 06, 2012

Phonedog v. Kravitz, currently pending in the Northern District of California, raises unprecedented issues regarding social media. Is a list of Twitter followers protected as trade secret under California law? What is the value of a Twitter follower? $2.50 per month? I discussed these questions today with Fox News.