Social Media Law in a Nutshell
Authors:
Garcia, Ryan / Hoffmeister, Thaddeus A.
Edition:
1st
Copyright Date:
2017
10 chapters
have results for Communications
Chapter 10 Litigation 17 results (showing 5 best matches)
- An ECS is, “any service which provides. . . users. . . the ability to send or receive wire or electronic communications.” “Electronic storage” is defined as, “any temporary, intermediate storage of a wire or electronic transmission thereof; and any storage of such communication by an [ECS] for purposes of backup protection of such communication.” Further, an ECS is any service which gives users the ability to send or receive wire or electronic communications.
- RCS is “the provision to the public of computer storage or processing services by means of electronic communications system.” The statute covering RCS further defines an “electronic communications system” as “any wire, radio, electromagnetic, photo-optical or photo-electronic facilities for the transmission of wire or electronic communications, and any computer facilities or related electronic equipment for the electronic storage of such communications.”
- Since Fourth Amendment protections can be somewhat lacking when applied to new forms of communication and data storage, the SCA was created to fill the gap. According to one court, “the SCA was enacted because the advent of the Internet presented a host of potential privacy breaches that ” Similar to Section 230(c) in the Communications Decency Act, many believed at the time that SCA protections would allow new methods of communication to flourish.
- The SCA imposes both criminal and civil penalties on entities and individuals including social media providers, who improperly reveal user information under their control to others. The SCA is a subsection of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA); however, many people use the laws interchangeably. Congress’s intent in passing the SCA in 1986 was to safeguard the confidentiality of new forms of communication and data storage that began to emerge in the 1980s.
- One of the big challenges in this area is obtaining information directly from social media providers. This is due in large part to the Stored Communications Act (SCA), which greatly restricts what information social media providers may reveal about their users.
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Chapter 12 Judges 6 results (showing 5 best matches)
- Finally, the ABA opinion warns judges about the differences between online and offline communication. Here, the opinion mentions both the permanency of online information and the absence of physical cues that occur in traditional face-to-face conversations. These cues are important because they give context to communication and reduce the risk of misinterpretation.
- During the trial of the case, as I mentioned before, you cannot talk to anyone. So make sure that you don’t talk to anyone. Again, this is by any means of communication. So no texting, emailing, talking person to person or on the
- In upholding the judge’s decision, the South Dakota Supreme Court found that the Happy Birthday post had no connection to the facts of the case and, thus, did not unduly sway the judge. Specifically, the South Dakota Supreme Court held that “where an ex parte communication is not invited or initiated by the judge, reversible error occurs only if the adverse party is prejudiced by an inability to
- On appeal, the appellate court agreed with Chace, finding that “[t]he ‘friend’ request placed the litigant between the proverbial rock and a hard place: either engage in improper ex parte communication with the judge presiding over the case or risk offending the judge by not accepting the ‘friend’ request.” The court went on to make several insightful observations about Facebook friendships. According to the court,
- As for judges regulating or controlling how others use social media in the courtroom, a sharp divide exists between jurors and non-jurors. For the most part, judges have significant leeway in regulating the conduct of jurors. For example, judges can sequester jurors and completely cut them off from all forms of communication including social media. The same, however, cannot be said for other individuals who might be in the courtroom, like court personnel, media, the public, and attorneys. Here, the judge has far less power.
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Chapter 7 Privacy 4 results
- category included communications that were generally accessible by the friends of a Facebook user e.g., wall posts. The second category included communications that operated more like email between two people. The court noted that the communications in this second category “are not open to perusal by one’s friends or by the general public.”
- R.S. subsequently sued the school officials alleging intentional infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy, and violations of her First and Fourth Amendment rights. With respect to her Fourth Amendment rights, defendants challenged whether R.S. had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the information she posted on Facebook and the private communications that she made with other students via Facebook.
- With respect to this second category of communications, the court analogized them to a private letter that was only available to R.S. and R.S.’s correspondent. The court went on to say that “based on established Fourth Amendment precedent, that R.S. had a reasonable expectation of privacy to her private Facebook information and messages.” This finding led the court to deny the defendants’ Motion to Dismiss with respect to the Fourth Amendment claim.
- at the time of the removal request or can the request be made at anytime during the individual’s lifespan so long as the information to be removed was posted while that person was under 18? Other questions arise about the constitutionality of the law and whether it violates the Dormant Commerce Clause or the First Amendment. Finally, there have been concerns about whether the new law is preempted by the Communications Decency Act, a statute discussed in detail in Chapter 8.
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Chapter 9 Criminal Law and Procedure 14 results (showing 5 best matches)
- Next, the appellate court determined that the ban was entirely too broad because it encompassed both protected speech and communication that had nothing to do with minors. Here, the appellate court noted that other methods existed by which the state could combat inappropriate communications between minors and sex offenders.
- The question here is whether the social media provider’s service or communications platform can be deemed “communications equipment,” which has been an undefined term to date. While no prosecutions of social media providers have occurred, despite the urging of some, the material support statute is so broadly written that it could conceivably encompass social media providers. Also, the Department of Justice has used this statute to prosecute individual users of social media and others who post terrorist content.
- [h]aving liability turn on whether a “reasonable person” regards the communication as a threat—regardless of what the defendant thinks—“reduces culpability on the all-important element of crime to negligence
- by posting on his own public Facebook page after he had received a restraining order, engaged in a single act of conduct that constitutes: (1) an “act of communication”; and (2) “contact” pursuant to RSA 173–B:1, IV that violates the April 24th restraining order
- Pursuant to this statute, a social media provider could be prosecuted for granting an FTO a social media account. “Material support” includes “services” and “communications equipment.” By providing an account, the social media provider is arguably offering the FTO an important “service” and extremely effective “communications equipment” to reach others.
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Chapter 3 Marketing and Promotions 6 results (showing 5 best matches)
- Marketers taking to digital technologies is not a phenomenon first created by social media. As Internet and email usage exploded in the 1990s, marketers began sending unsolicited commercial communications for a fraction of the cost of older direct mail advertisements. In 2003, Congress passed the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing Act of 2003 (CAN-SPAM). The law required commercial email messages to comply with a number of requirements pertaining to content (avoid misleading subject lines, correctly labelling adult content, including a physical address of the business sending the message, etc.), transmission activities (no sending emails to addresses harvested by automated programs, no sending emails without content [typically used to test whether an email address is valid], no use of techniques to hide or obscure the sender’s origin, etc.), and the requirement to allow recipients to opt out of any future communications.
- In 2010, the FTC investigated a small public relations firm, Reverb Communications, over potentially deceptive reviews on the iTunes app store. Apple’s iTunes app store has dozens to hundreds of new apps released every day. While there are numerous ways for apps to be discovered by consumers, one way consumers decide what app to purchase is by looking at the app’s reviews. Reverb Communications had several clients that produced games for the iTunes app store. The firm would then use its interns to create user accounts on iTunes for the sole purpose of leaving glowing reviews for these new apps.
- Reverb Communications was ordered to remove the fake reviews. The order further required any additional reviews posted on behalf of their clients to disclose Reverb’s business relationship with the app publishers.
- Facebook profiles or profiles belonging to the users’ friends. The issue of whether Facebook communications fell under CAN-SPAM regulations was decided in Facebook’s favor.
- Additionally, if a social media sweepstakes also utilizes a “refer-a-friend” tactic it can potentially violate CAN-SPAM requirements. Refer-a-friend mechanics allow a single user to then specifically alert a number of their friends via email, social media post, or private message about the commercial promotion. More than just allowing entrants to discuss the promotion, refer-a-friend typically will send a previously generated commercial email or post to the addresses provided by the entrant. Some may allow the entrant to customize a part of the email or include a brief message but the bulk of the communication is set by the promotion itself.
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Chapter 11 Ethics 7 results (showing 5 best matches)
- Proactive advice also includes informing clients about the risks associated with using social media accounts owned or operated by third parties like employers. For example, an employee’s communication with her attorney might not be
- The order was subsequently amended to clarify that plaintiffs’ counsel could use electronic communication to include social media to discuss the case with clients and other members of the law firm. The amended order also broadened the scope of the social media sites covered to include LinkedIn. In addition, the amended order added the personal social media accounts of plaintiffs’ counsel.
- other things, that “[i]f a juror becomes aware of an attorney’s efforts to see the juror’s profiles on websites, the contact may well consist of an impermissible communication, as it might tend to influence the juror’s conduct with respect to the trial.”
- Upon learning about the photographs and text postings that defense counsel discovered through her social media research, plaintiff’s counsel presumed that she had “hacked” plaintiff’s or her family members’ accounts or violated someone’s privacy rights in order to obtain the information. This, in turn, led plaintiff’s counsel to file a motion for sanctions arguing, among other things, that the information discovered by defense counsel “violate[d] [p]laintiff’s and her families (sic) right to privacy under the Stored Communications Act.” It appears that plaintiff’s counsel, at the time he filed his motion for sanctions, was unaware of the various privacy settings available on social media.
- Plaintiff’s online statements and comments ultimately led the court to find that she had waived her attorney-client privilege and that the defendants were entitled to discovery of attorney-client communications related to plaintiff’s motivations for pursuing litigation, legal strategy, and other factual issues.
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Index 6 results (showing 5 best matches)
Chapter 8 Torts 3 results
- The first part of the chapter will look at the liability of social media providers for the actions of their users. Generally speaking, Section 230(c) of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) gives providers of an “interactive computer service,” including social media, immunity for the acts of its users.
- states a “provider” or “user” of an interactive computer service will not be deemed the publisher or speaker of content created by others. This clause protects a user or provider from liability for content created by third parties. Exceptions to this rule of immunity include intellectual property claims, federal criminal prosecutions, and violations of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) and related state laws.
- [i]t is quite obvious the underlying basis for Plaintiffs’ claim is that through posting on MySpace, Pete Solis and Julie Doe met and exchanged personal information which eventually led to an in-person meeting and sexual assault. . . If MySpace had not published communications between Doe and Solis. . . they never would have met and the sexual assault never would have occurred. No matter how artfully Plaintiffs seek to plead their claims, the court views Plaintiffs’ claims as directed toward MySpace in its publishing, editorial, and/or screening capacities
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Chapter 6 Content, Copyright, License 2 results
- Both of these communications, the court said, can communicate a message within the context of a political campaign. The fact that the messages could be conveyed with a single click by the user rather than having the user type out a longer, custom message, was of no constitutional significance. While the context can certainly matter, the court’s definition of speech as applied to the most basic form of engagement establishes that any form of engagement should be considered speech for legal purposes.
- Given the ease with which material can be shared and the ability for celebrities to tie their personal brands with commercial brands for profit, there is a wide range of activities that could be alleged to infringe upon an individual’s right of publicity. When Katherine Heigl was photographed leaving a Duane Reed pharmacy the photograph appeared on a number of celebrity news sites without incident. However, when Duane Reed itself sent the photograph from its Twitter account, Ms. Heigl demanded the photograph be removed because that particular dissemination made it appear as though she had a commercial relationship with the store chain. Merely changing the source of the communication can change the perceived relationship, an issue with celebrities that brands should be aware of on social media.
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- Publication Date: June 22nd, 2017
- ISBN: 9781634593540
- Subject: Internet Law
- Series: Nutshells
- Type: Overviews
- Description: Social media has transformed how the world communicates. Its impact has been felt in every corner of our society including the law. Social Media Law in a Nutshell is a wide-ranging look of how the social media transformation has impacted various legal fields. From marketing to employment to torts to criminal law to copyright and beyond, virtually every legal field has been changed by social media. By looking at high level concerns and example cases, Social Media Law in a Nutshell attempts to give practitioners exposure to social media issues and concerns so they can better advise clients and approach the new social media world with their legal eyes opened to new and old risks alike. This book can also serve as a text for law professors looking to expose law students to the burgeoning area of Social Media Law.