Articles Posted in Social Media Policies

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Cydney Tune will provide the Program Overview for PLI’s Technology and Entertainment Convergence 2013: Hot Business and Legal Issues in “Technotainment” on Wednesday, September 18, 2013 at 9:00am. Ms. Tune will also co-present during the “Going Mobile: Key Issues in Developing and Distributing Mobile Apps” session at 11:30am.

James Gatto will present during the “Know When to Hold ‘Em” session, which will focus on legal issues with social media-based sweepstakes, prediction markets and other forms of non-real money gaming, at 2:45pm.

This year’s program includes today’s major legal and business issues in the convergence of entertainment and technology. The program brings together a faculty of experienced in-house lawyers, law firm attorneys and senior business executives on the cutting edge of this burgeoning practice.

The expert faculty will address recent litigation and key cases involving convergence issues, such as the myriad of issues raised by new platforms and new technologies as well as the resulting evolution of entertainment content; recent decisions on digital television, right of publicity, and contributory copyright liability; issues in connection with social media and apps, including privacy issues and the new COPPA rules; and advertising and promotion issues and strategies.

The discussions will also focus on transitions in the entertainment industries, such as TV, film, and games, and the related issues and strategies. Be sure that you are on top of all of the developments and burning legal issues at the intersection of technology and entertainment! You will learn what you need to know to maintain your practice edge by attending this one-day “Technotainment” program.

What you will learn:

  • Convergence trends and relevant technology developments
  • The evolving entertainment industries, including TV, film, and games
  • Trends in litigation and recent convergence cases
  • Legal issues in social media and apps, including privacy and best practices
  • The complex web of agreements needed to develop content for, and to move content to, new platforms
  • The new COPPA rules and how to implement them
  • Advertising and promotions in new media

This event will also be webcast on September 18, 2013 at 9:00am

SPEAKERS
James Gatto, Partner, Social Media, Entertainment & Technology, Pillsbury
Cydney Tune, Leader, Copyrights practice section and Media & Entertainment, Pillsbury

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 A weekly wrap up of interesting news about virtual worlds, virtual goods and other social media.

 

 

Surprise: Facebook Is The Tech Company That Reports The Blowout Quarter
The social network surprised on the massive upside. Its mobile business is maturing at an even quicker clip than some aggressive estimates.

 

SEC Says Texas Man Operated Bitcoin Ponzi Scheme
Regulators have cracked down on an alleged Ponzi scheme involving the virtual currency bitcoin as they issue a more general warning about the dangers of such scams for investors. 

 

Upcoming Event: How to Comply With Social Media Regulations While Building Deeper Customer Relationships
In this webcast, IBM and Integritie will explore the opportunities that social media channels now give all organisations to build deeper relationships with their customers and how their solution SMC4 meets the strict compliance regulations set by the FCA, FINRA, SEC and NASD. Using social media is something that worries many organizations across all industries, but particularly concerns Financial Services and highlights the communication risks that could potentially occur thus leading to brand and reputation damage, or worse.

 

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On May 28, 2013, the New York Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics issued an opinion stating “that the mere status of being a ‘Facebook friend,’ without more, is an insufficient basis to require recusal.” (Emphasis in original). The sole act of friending an individual on Facebook does not create an appearance of impropriety, nor does it allow the questioning of a judge’s impartiality.

The unknown justice inquired if recusal is necessary in a criminal matter in which he or she is Facebook friends with the parents or guardians of certain minors allegedly affected by the defendant’s conduct. The justice indicated that the parents are mere acquaintances and that he or she can be fair and impartial.

The Committee cited previous opinions finding that there is nothing inherently inappropriate about a judge making use of a social network. Because interpersonal relationships are unique and fact-dependent, judges must ultimately determine the nature of their relationships.

Various judicial advisory committees have weighed in on judges’ use of social media, with each reaching slightly different results.

In 2011, the Oklahoma Judicial Ethics Advisory Panel issued one of the most restrictive opinions, categorically prohibiting social media “friendships” between judges and court staff, law enforcement officers, social workers, attorneys, and others who may appear in the judge’s court.

Several months ago, an opinion by the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility provided judges with a great deal of latitude in their online personas. While judges should disclose information believed to be reasonably relevant to a possible motion for disqualification, the mere fact than an online relationship exists is not automatically grounds for recusal. For example, a judge might disclose a social media connection with a party, lawyer, or witness, but state “that the judge believes the connection has not resulted in a relationshop requiring disqualification.” Judges must take care, however, not to publicly endorse candidates for public office by “liking” online content.

For more information, see:

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Please join us at the Video Games and Digital Media Conference on June 10, 2013. Pillsbury attorney Cydney Tune is co-chairing this upcoming conference hosted by the American Bar Association Forum on the Entertainment & Sports Industries. She is also speaking on the topic of “Data Privacy, PII, and Online TOU/Privacy Policies.” Jim Gatto will be speaking on the topic of “Gamblification! Interaction Between Social Games and Online Gambling.”

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The SEC has provided guidance to publicly reporting companies on how to use popular social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, consistent with federal securities laws. For more information, please read Safe Tweeting: SEC Provides Guidance on Social Media and Regulation FD Compliance.

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Most companies have employment policies, various website compliance policies and other audit and compliance practices to mitigate risk. Many companies have not yet integrated social media into those policies. Of those that have made some attempt to do so, most have ineffectively or incompletely done so. In fact, a Wall Street Journal report indicates that in a recent Protiviti survey of internal audit professionals, more than half do not assess social media risk and of the ones that do 80% admit to less than fully effective capabilities.

In a climate where regualtory actions are increasing, you can not read the daily tech/legal news without seeing another enforcement action for social media violations. Record fines are being levied. Dont be the next target. There is no time like now to mitigate your risk.

We have previously written about some of the reasons that companies need to conduct legal audits of social media risks and develop effective policies to do so. Pillsbury’s Social Media team has a cost-effective approach to doing so. 

To see our recent presentation on Social Media Audits please click here https://www.youtube.com/watch?&autoplay=1&v=_Uts2BT542M#t=2489s.

Questions? Contact Us.

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On March 15, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued the first in a new series of guidance releases aimed at addressing emerging legal issues.  In that edition of “IM Guidance Update”, the SEC focused on clarifying filing and disclosure requirements associated with investment companies’ use of social media, identifying several types of electronic communications and materials on investment companies’ websites that are not required to be filed for review by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). This release comes, according to the SEC, because many such organizations have been filing materials located on their social media sites with FINRA “out of an abundance of caution”. You can read the SEC’s press release and access the full IM Guidance Update: SEC Issues Guidance Update on Social Media Filings by Investment Companies.

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Hiring a lawyer for a general counsel role – either in-house or by retaining outside counsel to perform that role – can benefit organizations in countless ways. Unlike outside attorneys who are consulted on a piecemeal basis, corporate or general counsel are very familiar with the organization’s operations, leadership, and goals. Because they are often privy to and included in discussions of key business decisions and developments, they can ground their legal advice on a thorough understanding of the organization and its history. That intimate connection to the organization’s business life, however, operates as a double-edged sword. As some court decisions illustrate, the regular inclusion of general counsel in business communications can strip communications with corporate counsel of the presumption that they are protected by attorney-client privilege.

For more information, please click here.

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social-media-work.jpgAs use of social media continues to increase, so do concerns by employers regarding employee use of social media as it relates to the workplace. In response, many employers are drafting new or revised policies covering use of social media particularly as it pertains to confidentiality, privacy, intellectual property, and contact with the media and government agencies.

The Acting General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”), Lafe Solomon, has released a report on employer social media policies.  In many cases, some or all provisions of employers’ policies governing the use of social media by employees have been found to be unlawful. Provisions are found to be unlawful when they interfere with the rights of employees under the National Labor Relations Act. Consider the following examples, which may be surprising.

In one case, the NLRB addressed an employer’s rules on communication of confidential information via social media.  The employer’s social media policy provided in relevant part:

If you enjoy blogging or using online social networking sites such as Facebook and YouTube, (otherwise known as Consumer Generated Media, or CGM) please note that there are guidelines to follow if you plan to mention [Employer] or your employment with [Employer] in these online vehicles . . . Don’t release confidential guest, team member or company information. . . .

The NLRB concluded these rules were unlawful as they could chill the exercise of Section 7 rights (e.g., self-organization, collective bargaining, etc.) in violation of the National Labor Relations Act. More specifically, the instruction that employees not “release confidential guest, team member or company information” was interpreted as prohibiting employees from discussing and disclosing information regarding their own conditions of employment as well as the conditions of employment of employees other than themselves.

In another case, the NLRB focused on an employer’s social medial policy for protecting company information, which provided in relevant part:

Employees are prohibited from posting information regarding [Employer] on any social networking sites (including, but not limited to, Yahoo finance, Google finance, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, LiveJournal and YouTube), in any personal or group blog, or in any online bulletin boards, chat rooms, forum, or blogs (collectively, ‘Personal Electronic Communications’), that could be deemed material nonpublic information or any information that is considered confidential or proprietary. Such information includes, but is not limited to, company performance, contracts, customer wins or losses, customer plans, maintenance, shutdowns, work stoppages, cost increases, customer news or business related travel plans or schedules. Employees should avoid harming the image and integrity of the company and any harassment, bullying, discrimination, or retaliation that would not be permissible in the workplace is not permissible between co-workers online, even if it is done after hours, from home and on home computers. . . .

The rule prohibiting employees from posting information regarding the employer that could be deemed “material non-public information” or “confidential or proprietary” was found unlawful by the NLRB. This was chiefly due to the terms “material non-public information” and “confidential or proprietary” being vague and/or overbroad, and the associated risk of limiting Section 7 rights.

Some other trends in the guidance provided by the NLRB include that expression of opinions by employees is largely protected, and prohibitions on activities in social media used by unions for communication or organization are particularly safeguarded.  On the other hand, the guidance appears to enable employers to protect themselves against “rants” by individual employees, and to enforce important workplace policies (like sexual harassment, workplace violence, and/or other workplace policies) in employee use of social media.

As can be seen from the examples above, employers should work with counsel to carefully craft their social media policies to both protect their own interests while not impeding employee rights under the National Labor Relations Act.

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Thank you to everyone who joined us in both New York and Washington, DC for our Social Media Week events – Game On!

Special thank you to all of our panelists: Randy Leibowitz, Mike Scafidi, Tim Ettus, Lou Kerner, Peter Corbett, Jim Gatto, Sean Kane, Lauren Lynch Flick and Tina Kearns (many featured in the picture and video below). 

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