Navigating Social Media Legal Risks Safeguarding Your Business

by McHale, Robert

• ISBN13: 9780789749536
• ISBN10: 078974953X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-05-04
• Publisher: Que Publishing

Summary

This insightful, first-of-its-kind book gives business and marketing professionals practical strategies for successfully navigating the unique new risks of social, mobile, and online media. Armed with this book, business decision-makers can implement secure and successful social and mobile marketing programs while maintaining strict legal and regulatory compliance in a fast-changing environment. Author and attorney Robert McHale has spent fifteen years at the forefront of information technology and intellectual property law. Now, he distills his knowledge into a 100% practical guide specifically for non-lawyers. Writing in plain English, McHale reviews today's US laws related to social media, and illuminates both the legal and business risks associated with it. Readers learn best practices for: * Avoiding high-profile human mishaps that can instantly damage reputation, brand equity, and goodwill, or create massive potential liability * Ensuring the security of sensitive company information, from customer data to business leads * Safely utilize online pre-employment screening * Monitor and regulate employee usage of social media * Understand the e-discovery implications of social media in lawsuits * Preventing unfair or deceptive endorsements and other issues in user-generated content * Avoiding unintentional employment and labor law violations * Managing the legal implications of "gamification" in online/mobile media * And much more...

Author Biography

Robert McHale, Esq. is the founding member of R McHale Law, a full-service law firm whose corporate practice represents clients on a wide variety of Hand IP law matters, including privacy/data security, trademark, copyright, trade secrets, technology licensing, and other proprietary protections. His areas of focus include corporate law, business litigation, computer software, web/mobile applications, new media, and Internet and e-commerce technology. Eric Garulay is digital marketing manager at Pearson, the world's largest educational publisher. He is a digital marketing and social media strategist, and founder and executive producer of the OnPodcast Video Network.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
How This Book Is Organized	p. 3
Social Media Promotion Law: Contests and Sweepstakes	p. 3
Online Endorsements and Testimonials: What Companies and Their Employees Can and Cannot Tweet, Blog, or Say	p. 4
The [Mis]Use of Social Media in Pre-Employment Screening	p. 4
Monitoring, Regulating, and Disciplining Employees Using Social Media	p. 4
Social Media in Litigation and E-Discovery: Risks and Rewards	p. 5
Managing the Legal Risks of User-Generated Content.!	p. 6
The Law of Social Advertising	p. 6
Trademark Protections from Brandjacking and Cybersquatting in Social Networks	p. 8
Balancing Gamification Legal Risks and Business Opportunities	p. 8
Social Media's Effect on Privacy and Security Compliance	p. 9
Legal Guidelines for Developing Social Media Policies and Governance Models	p. 9
Looking Ahead at Social Media Business Opportunities, Expectations, and Challenges	p. 9
Who Should Use This Book?	p. 10
Features of This Book	p. 11
A Quick Note about U.S. Legal System	p. 11
Legal Disclaimer	p. 12
Social Media Promotion Law: Contests and Sweepstakes	p. 13
Online Promotions	p. 14
Sweepstakes Laws	p. 15
Contest Laws	p. 17
Lottery Laws	p. 19
Potential Legal Issues Associated With Public Voting	p. 21
Keeping Social Media Promotional Campaigns Legal	p. 23
Online Promotions Outside the United States	p. 25
Sweepstakes Versus Illegal Online Gambling	p. 25
Platform-Specific Guidelines	p. 26
LinkedIn	p. 26
Google+	p. 26
Twitter	p. 26
Facebook	p. 27
Online Endorsements and Testimonials: What Companies and Their Employees Can and Cannot Tweet, Blog, or Say	p. 35
Fundamental Principles of Endorsements and Testimonials	p. 37
Endorsement or Not?	p. 37
Determining Liability	p. 40
Making Necessary Disclosures	p. 41
Hyperlinked Disclosures	p. 43
General Rules for Disclosures	p. 44
Disclosures in Social Media	p. 46
Lessons Learned from FTC Investigative and Enforcement Actions	p. 47
The [Mis]Use of Social Media in Pre-Employment Screening	p. 53
The Fair Credit Reporting Act	p. 56
Real-World Examples	p. 59
FTC v. Social Intelligence Corp	p. 59
FTC v. the Marketers of 6 Mobile Background Screening Apps	p. 61
Robins v. Spokeo, Inc	p. 62
Monitoring, Regulating, and Disciplining Employees Using Social Media	p. 67
Employee Monitoring	p. 68
Employer Regulation	p. 73
Employee Discipline for Social Media Use	p. 74
Ambulance Service Provider	p. 75
Chicago Luxury Car Dealer	p. 76
Advice Memoranda	p. 77
Lawfully Disciplining Employees	p. 80
Social Media in Litigation and E-Discovery: Risks and Rewards	p. 89
E-Discovery of Social Media	p. 90
The Stored Communications Act	p. 93
Authenticating Social Networking Site Evidence at Trial	p. 97
Managing the Legal Risks of User-Generated Content	p. 103
Copyright in the Age of Social Media	p. 104
Direct Infringement	p. 106
Contributory Infringement	p. 107
Vicarious Infringement	p. 107
Digital Millennium Copyright Act	p. 107
Defamation, Invasion of Privacy, and CDA Immunity	p. 113
Limitations of CDA Immunity	p. 117
The Law of Social Advertising	p. 125
The FTC Act	p. 127
Best Practices for Social Media Advertising	p. 128
Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act	p. 129
The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003	p. 134
The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)	p. 137
COPPA Enforcement	p. 139
Proposed Changes to COPPA	p. 141
Summation	p. 145
Trademark Protections from Brandjacking and Cybersquatting in Social Networks	p. 151
Notable Cases of Brandjacking and Cybersquatting	p. 152
Trademark Infringement Under the Lanham Act	p. 156
The Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACRA)	p. 161
Post-Domain Path Names and the ACPA	p. 164
Platform-Specific Trademark Enforcement Mechanisms	p. 166
Twitter Policies	p. 166
LinkedIn Policies	p. 167
Facebook Policies	p. 167
Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution	p. 169
Balancing Gamification Legal Risks and Business Opportunities	p. 175
Unfair and Deceptive Marketing Practices	p. 177
FTC Guidelines on Endorsements	p. 181
Legal Status of Virtual Goods	p. 182
The Credit CARD Act of 2009	p. 186
Other Little-Known Laws Relating to Virtual Currencies	p. 188
Location-Based Services	p. 189
Designing a Precise Geolocation Data Security Plan	p. 191
Social Media's Effect on Privacy and Security Compliance	p. 197
Privacy Compliance	p. 199
Security Compliance	p. 202
Legal Guidelines for Developing Social Media Policies and Governance Models	p. 209
Vital Corporate Social Media Policy Provisions	p. 210
Recommended Social Media Marketing Policies	p. 217
Looking Ahead at Social Media Business Opportunities, Expectations, and Challenges	p. 221
Table of Legal Authorities	p. 225
Federal Statutes and Regulations	p. 225
Case Law	p. 226
Miscellaneous	p. 231
The Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914	p. 233
(15 U.S.C. §§ 41-58) (as amended)	p. 233
The Lanham Act-Section 43(a)	p. 235
(15 U.S.C. §§ 1114(1) and 1125(a))	p. 235
The Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA)	p. 237
(15 U.S.C. § 1125(d) - Section 43(d) of Lanham Act)	p. 237
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)	p. 239
15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.)	p. 239
Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA)	p. 245
(15 U.S.C. §1693 et seq.)	p. 245
Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule	p. 249
(Title 16 C.F.R. 312)	p. 249
FTC's Revised Guides Concerning Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising	p. 255
(16 C.F.R. Part 255)	p. 255
Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act of 2003	p. 259
(15 U.S.C. § 7701 et seq.)	p. 259
The Copyright Act	p. 263
(17 U.S.C. §101 et seq.)	p. 263
Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act (OCILLA)	p. 265
(17 U.S.C. § 512)	p. 265
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act	p. 269
(18 U.S.C. § 1030)	p. 269
Electronic Communications Privacy Act	p. 273
(18 U.S.C. § 2701 et seq.) (Including the Stored Communications Act [SCA])	p. 273
National Labor Relations Act	p. 277
(Pub.L. 74-198, 49 Stat. 449, 29 U.S.C. §§ 151-169) (as amended)	p. 277
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006	p. 279
(31 U.S.C. §§ 5361-5366)	p. 279
Communications Decency Act (CDA) of 1996	p. 283
(47 U.S.C. § 230)	p. 283
Index	p. 285
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