In two last-minute decisions, the German Parliament (Bundestag) will likely adopt the WiFi Act (Entwurf eines Drittes Gesetz zur Änderung des Telemediengesetzes) and the Hate Speech Act (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Verbesserung der Rechtsdurchsetzung in sozialen Netzwerken) in the last session of the current legislative term. The parliament will vote on both bills on 30 … Continue Reading
A DJ asserting trademark infringement and dilution claims against a similarly named rapper failed partly due to a lack of apparent popularity on social media, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled on December 13. In Kibler v. Hall, et al., No. 15-2516 (6th Cir. Dec. 13, 2016), the appellate court affirmed … Continue Reading
Ask any 1L – personal jurisdiction has always been a tricky issue. But in the internet era, even courts have grappled with how to determine whether an online presence is sufficient to establish personal jurisdiction over a party. Recently, the Eastern District of Louisiana ruled that an internet presence consisting of a website as well … Continue Reading
By Dominique Pietz and Barrett Hammond on Posted in In the Courts
Two recent cases serve as a reminder of the key role an online service provider’s (OSP) terms of service play in social media marketing. The courts in Darnaa, LLC v. Google, Inc., 2015 WL 7753406 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 2, 2015) and Lewis v. YouTube, LLC, 2015 BL 428281 (Cal. App. 6th Dist. Dec. 28, 2015), … Continue Reading
The Information Society Code (2014/917) (Code) – a new act in Finland on electronic communications, privacy, data security, communications, and the information society in general – took effect 1 January. This sees a consolidation of 10 existing acts into one, which had included Finland’s Communications Market Act; Act on the Protection of Privacy in Electronic … Continue Reading
Last Thursday, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that messaging app Snapchat agreed to settle charges that it deceived consumers with promises about the disappearing nature of messages sent through the app. The FTC case also alleged that the company deceived consumers over the amount of personal data the app collected, and the security measures … Continue Reading
This post was written by Cynthia O’Donoghue. The "right to be forgotten" is a hot topic of discussion in the context of imminent EU Data Protection Reform. Article 17 of the new EU General Data Protection Regulation will give data subjects the “right of erasure” to request that data controllers delete any personal data relating … Continue Reading
This post was written by Cynthia O’Donoghue. A U.S. District court ruled that a UK defendant may be served via Facebook. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in Woodward v. Chetvertakov, E.D. Mich., No. 2:13-cv-11943-GER-MKM, ruled it permissible to serve a foreign defendant website operator based in the UK via email … Continue Reading
This post was also written by Keri S. Bruce. Courts and legislators alike have begun to give a person’s social media presence a new kind of legitimacy. We are seeing an upward trend towards allowing service of process in a lawsuit through communications on social media websites, like Facebook, where there is some reliability that … Continue Reading
This post was also written by Timothy J. Nagle and Frederick Lah. Earlier this week, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (“FFIEC”) released its proposed guidance requesting comment on the applicability of consumer protection laws to the social media activities of financial institutions. The guidance addresses the potential risks associated with the use of social media … Continue Reading
This post was written by Frederick Lah. Earlier this year, Maryland enacted the nation’s first law explicitly prohibiting employers from requesting or requiring employees or applicants to disclose their usernames and passwords for their personal social media accounts. Many other states are contemplating similar laws, with Illinois’ version likely to become law within the next … Continue Reading
This post was also written by Frederick Lah. Recently, Facebook announced a proposed settlement of a national class action in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Fraley, et al. v. Facebook, Inc., 5:11-cv-01726. This settlement has been described by some as settlement of a “privacy lawsuit.” See, e.g., “Facebook to Settle Privacy … Continue Reading
On March 6, 2012, the Regional Court of Berlin issued a ruling on a case initiated by the Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband, the Federation of German Consumer Organisations, against Facebook Ireland Limited. The court took this rare opportunity to object to several key features of Facebook’s user experience and actions: The court criticized that users are not … Continue Reading
