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Internet & Social Media Law Blog

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News of Note for the Internet-Minded (4/12/17) – Inscrutable Algorithms, Adaptable Botnets and Weibo Backlash

It turns out protecting driverless cars from hacking is hard; a new technology brings emotions to virtual and augmented realities; botnets get attacked (and get a new job); and more … A new technology transports emotions to augmented and virtual realities via electrodes. (Rachel Metz, MIT Technology Review) Protecting driverless…

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Internet Vino Veritas: Rules and Guidelines for Social Media Efforts Related to Alcohol Sales

Every day, businesses extend more of their services to the internet in an effort to cater to millennials and upcoming generations of consumers. Those in the wine industry are no exception. Though somewhat slow to adopt online and digital marketing in the beginning, businesses in the alcohol industry are catching…

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Whack a Meme: Is It Possible to Contain (Let Alone Stop) the “Crying Jordan”?

Almost everyone (even my parents) has seen the Crying Michael Jordan meme popping up around the internet and social media. Crying Jordan has appeared in the standard meme form of photoshopped images and gifs but has also inspired Halloween masks and even customized Air Jordan sneakers. TMZ reports that Jordan…

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Don’t Rock the Vote: Helping State and Local Governments Fend Off Cyber Attacks

Voting in local, state and national elections could be viewed as a rudimentary form of social media, by which voters share their views and preferences via selection of a candidate or party platform. The distance between this “old school” social media and its multi-headed modern form has shrunk thanks to…

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How Does a Freeze in Federal Hiring Affect Patent Examination Timelines?

The President’s January 23, 2017, executive memorandum implemented a federal hiring freeze. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is one of those agencies affected by the President’s memorandum. While such a hiring freeze may not have an immediate impact on patent application pendency and/or examination quality, due to the relatively…

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The End of the Form Contract as a Shield against Negative Opinion

In a December post titled “Freedom to Yelp: Congress Curbs ToS Overreach,” we discussed the Consumer Review Fairness Act of 2016, then just awaiting President Obama’s signature to become law. That happened, and the law goes into effect March 14. In their recent client alert on the new federal law,…

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Social Media Gets a “Like” from SCOTUS: Comments Suggest Possible First Amendment Protection

When the President of the United States, every governor, every member of Congress, and—as Justice Kagan remarked—virtually every under-30 and 35 year-old in the country has a Twitter account, it’s time for social media to be recognized as a pervasive and protectable form of speech. On Monday, during oral arguments…

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News of Note for the Internet-Minded (2/17/17) – DeepMind, IoT and Graphic ToS Representation!

The Internet of Things does not have to be Skynet to threaten us humans; perhaps tired of defeating carbon-based Go and chess masters, Google’s DeepMind pits its AI agents against each other; exactly when will AR and VR be fully embraced; and more … eBay CEO Devin Wenig discusses an…

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A Tale of Two Trump Tweets: Is It Harder to Prove Defamation in Social Media?

Last month, a New York trial court dismissed a complaint against Donald J. Trump and others brought by political consultant and commentator Cheryl Jacobus that alleged, in part, a defamation claim (libel) based on tweets by Trump. While the case is notable because it involves Trump and his penchant for…

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Cross-Device Tracking and the Trouble with Talkative Tech

Did you know that your devices are following you and talking amongst themselves? Creepy, right? From ordering products from your smartphone that you added to your shopping cart on your laptop’s browser to streaming a movie from your smartphone that you didn’t finish watching on your desktop, our online and…