Think Twice Before Reading Employees' Text Messages
A recent decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has provided a loud wake-up call to employers who wish to monitor employee communications. In <i>Quon v. Arch Wireless Operating Co, Inc. et al.</i>, the court held that the City of Ontario, CA, violated the state and federal constitutional privacy rights of its police officers when it reviewed their personal text messages.
Music on the Web
Any attorney practicing Internet law probably has plenty of clients that offer music to their users ' from background music for a site feature or page to television and movie programming, advertising, Webcasting, play-on-demand music and music videos. Those clients may think that all they need to play music on their service is a license from the record company that released it. Those clients would be wrong.
DMCA: A Safe Harbor for Video Sharing?
As the popularity of Web video continues to grow, so too does the potential for contributory copyright infringement on popular video-sharing Web sites. These Web sites become venues for infringing behavior, simply due to the sheer number of users uploading new videos daily. Consequently, content owners have contended that such Web sites must take a greater role in stemming their users' infringement. The Web site owners have countered that they need only follow the dictates outlined by the DMCA safe harbors that can immunize service providers from copyright liability. Thus, both sides continue to dispute what it means to be compliant with the DMCA. They also dispute which entity should bear the ultimate responsibility for policing video-sharing sites for infringing content: the Web site owner or the content owner.
Developments of Note
Federal Banking Authorities Issue Identity Theft 'Red Flag' Regulations <br>IN Do-Not-Call Law Does Not Violate First Amendment Charity Rights<br>Federal Law Criminalizing Misleading Web Content To Lure Users to Obscene Material Is Passed <br>
e-Commerce Docket Sheet
Credit-Card Issuing Banks May Benefit from Data Security Reqs. <br>Parties' Subcontract Governs Software Transaction, Despite Purview of VA's UCITA<br>Cable TV Remote Storage DVR System Is Not Direct Copyright Infringer<br>'Free' Software Charges Settled with $2.1 Mil. Fine<br>Forum Selection Clause On Web Site Sufficiently In Contract Is Enforceable
Features
Changing Internet Pharmacy Legal Standards
Telemedicine, on the scene medically and legally for several decades, is an area ' in the form, strictly speaking, of providing some kind of health care or health-care products or services ' under the Big Top of the e-commerce fair that is subjected regularly to regulatory scrutiny, debate, enforcement actions, improvements and all the other aspects of e-commerce, although sometimes at a slower pace than within the sector's other channels.
Features
SEC Guidance On Company Web Site Use
Over the last several years, rapid developments in technology and the Internet have significantly enhanced the quantity and quality of e-commerce, products and information available to the public. One area of online business interaction, though, that particularly benefited recently is the information that corporate investor can find on a company's Web site. In August, the SEC, acknowledging the significant technological advances since the SEC last provided guidance on Internet issues relating to the Securities Act of 1933, issued an interpretive release providing updated guidance on the disclosure of investor information on company Web sites.
Web Site Terms and Conditions
It was Henry Ford, not Marlon Brando or Don Corleone, who once famously said: "The customer can have any color he wants so long as it's black." Unfortunately for e-commerce buyers, however, the rules imposed on them by the fine print and deep links usually known as "Terms and Conditions" often leave as little room to negotiate as early Ford buyers once had.
Features
Record-keeping: It's Time to Double-Check Your Procedures
In an era where employment laws continue to evolve, an important, but often overlooked, aspect of legal compliance is an employer's record-keeping procedures. Here's what you need to know.
Features
Mandatory Wellness Programs
While often a healthy asset for organizations, the increasing use of mandatory wellness programs can also present liability risks for companies, including potential violations of employee privacy rights, the federal anti-discrimination laws, such as the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, and state legislation regarding the regulation of an employee's lawful off-duty conduct.
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