The Brave New World of e-Workplace Privacy Policies
July 29, 2010
Embodying some of the aspects of Big Brother is not a new role for an employer. In the past 15 years, however, workplaces have become increasingly digitized as electronic information has come to dominate all aspects of modern life. Part One of this article examines the potential liability for employers involved with social media and e-mail use.
<b><i>Commentary:</b></i> Comparing Collective Licensing Proposals For Internet Licensing of Copyrighted Content
July 29, 2010
Advances in digital distribution technologies and widespread use of the Internet have moved media distribution technology out of the control of rights holders and distributors, and directly into the hands of consumers or creative members of the general public. To address how U.S. copyright law should apply to new business models that take advantage of these technologies, some have proposed collective rights licensing at the Internet service provider (ISP) level.
Txt2Win and Mobile Promos
July 29, 2010
Sweepstakes and contests have become popular in mobile promotion. However, because sweepstakes and contests are highly regulated, a marketer using a mobile device must comply not only with mobile-messaging laws and regulations, but also with those governing sweepstakes and contests. Indeed, text messaging as a sweepstakes-entry method has brought much consumer litigation in recent years.
Stop in the Name of ' the IP Police?
July 29, 2010
When it comes to infringement of intellectual property, there are no "IP police" hiding in the obscure nooks and crannies of cyberspace to chase down those who misuse property online. Instead, the e-commerce firm itself often must become its own IP cop, when it discovers ' as it inevitably will in the online free-for-all ' that its marks, copyrighted content or knockoffs of its unique products appear on the Web site or in the e-catalog of a competitor.
Policing Workplace e-Mail Use
July 29, 2010
On-the-job Internet surfing has become a problem that employers can no longer ignore. A recent Office of Inspector General investigation, for example, revealed that senior-level SEC staff, including an attorney, used their workplace computers to view online pornography for up to eight hours per day during the period of time that led this country's biggest economic meltdown since the Great Depression.
The Place to Network: The Art and Practice of Blogging
July 29, 2010
Blogs have proven to be an effective tactic to establish subject matter expertise, and the Internet search engines can help reach a target audience on a scale that other networking tactics, and traditional publishing venues, may not.
Employers Beware
July 29, 2010
Employee mobility, coupled with the exceeding ease with which confidential and proprietary trade secret information can be stored and transported, creates the perfect platform for trade secret theft. And it's not just a hypothetical problem.
Navigating the Changing Technological Landscape
July 29, 2010
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in <i>City of Ontario v. Quon<i> offers employers useful guidance with respect to up-to-the-minute issues in this area, and reaffirms some preventative measures that forward-looking employers should already have in place.
Policing Workplace e-Mail Use
July 28, 2010
Under what circumstances do employees who use a workplace computer to communicate with their attorneys waive the attorney-client privilege that would normally attach to such a communication? A recent ruling from New Jersey addressed this question.
