Clarkson14e - PPT - ch09 Internet Law Social Media and Privacy

BUSINESS LAW
TEXT AND CASES

Fourteenth Edition
CLARKSON MILLER CROSS  
CHAPTER 9: INTERNET LAW,

SOCIAL MEDIA, AND PRIVACY
© 2018 Cengage. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
§ 1: INTERNET LAW (1 OF 11)
 Spam: Unsolicited “junk” e-mails
with ads, solicitations, and other
messages.
 State Regulation of Spam:
 Thirty-seven states have legislation requiring an “opt out” of
further
e-mail ads. 
2
INTERNET LAW (3 OF 11)
 Domain Names: An Internet
address, consisting of:
A “top level domain” to the right of the
“dot” (.com, .org, .edu) and
A “second level domain” to the left of
the “dot” chosen by entity creating the
domain name, e.g., www.cengage.com.
4
 Distribution System: The Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers (ICANN) is a nonprofit
corporation that oversees the
distribution of domain names and
operates an online arbitration system.
 Overhauled its system to attempt to stop
cybersquatting. 
5
 Cybersquatting: The act of
registering someone else’s name or
trademark as a domain name and
then offering to sell the registered
domain name to that person. 
6
 Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection
Act (ACPA) makes it illegal for a person to
“register, traffic in, or use” a domain name if
the name is identical or confusingly similar
to another’s trademark, and
the person registering, trafficking in, or
using the domain name does so with the
bad faith intent to profit from its similarity
to the other’s trademark.  7
 However, frequent changes in domain
name ownership facilitates cybersquatting
due to the speed at which these changes
occur and the difficulty in tracking mass
automated registrations.
8
 Typosquatting: The registration of a
name that is a misspelling of a
popular brand (such as googl.com).
 Such pages usually have a lot of hits (unique
visitors) which generates increased profits
for advertisers.
9
 Applicability and Sanctions of ACPA: The
ACPA applies to all domain name
registrations of trademarks.
 Successful plaintiffs can collect actual
damages and profits, or statutory damages.
10
 Meta Tags: Key words that give Internet
browsers specific information about a
Web page and increase the likelihood
that a site will be included in search
research.
 SEE CASE IN POINT 9.5: TOYOTA MOTOR SALES,
U.S.A., INC. V. TABARI (2011).
11
 Trademark Dilution in the Online World:
Trademark dilution occurs when a
trademark is used—without authorization
—in a way that diminishes the distinctive
quality of the mark.
Does not require proof consumers would
be confused.
 CASE 9.1 HASBRO, INC. V. INTERNET
ENTERTAINMENT GROUP, LTD. (1996). 12
§ 2: COPYRIGHTS IN
DIGITAL INFORMATION (1 OF 4)
 Copyright law is a very important form of
intellectual property protection on the
Internet because:
Much of the material on the Internet is
copyrighted.
In order to transfer that material online,
it must be “copied.”
Infringement may occur when content is
copied or downloaded to a computer.
13
COPYRIGHTS IN
 File-Sharing Technology:
 Methods of file-sharing include peer-to-
peer (P2P) networking and the use of
distributed networks.
 Cloud computing delivers a single
application through a browser to multiple
users. 
15
COPYRIGHTS IN
 Sharing Stored Music and Movies: When file-
sharing is used to download others’ stored
music or movie files, artists and their labels
lose substantial royalties and revenues.
 CASE 9.2 MAVERICK RECORDING CO. V. HARPER
(2010).
 Pirated Movies and Television: The motion
picture and television industries lose
significant revenue annually due to piracy
16
§3: SOCIAL MEDIA (1 OF 8)
 Social media provides a means to

create, share, and exchange ideas
and comments via the Internet.
 Legal Issues: The emergence of social
media sites has created a number of
legal and ethical issues for
businesses.
17
SOCIAL MEDIA (2 OF 8)
 Impact on Litigation: Social media posts are
routinely included in discovery in litigation
since they can provide damaging information
about a person’s intent or what she or he
knew at a particular time.
 Impact on Settlement Agreements: Social
media posts have been used to invalidate
settlement agreements that contain
confidentiality clauses.  18
 Criminal Investigations: Social media
is used to detect and prosecute
criminals because a surprising
number of them boast about their
illegal activities on social media. 
19
 Administrative Agency
Investigations: Federal regulators use
social media posts in their
investigations into illegal activities.
 SEE CASE IN POINT 9.14 IN RE O’BRIEN (2013).
 Employers’ Social Media Policies:

Employees can be disciplined or fired
for using social media in a way that
20
 Protection of Social Media Passwords:
 Some employers and schools will get social
media passwords from applicants to see if their
accounts include controversial postings.
 By 2017, about half of U.S. states had enacted
legislation to protect individuals from having to
disclose their social media passwords.
23
 Company-Wide Social Media
Networks:
 Often referred to as an “intranet,” these are
online places for employees to discuss
company services and products.
 Intranets allow companies to better protect
their trade secrets.
24
§4: ONLINE DEFAMATION (1 OF 2)
 Cyber Torts: Online defamation is one of
the most prevalent cyber torts.
 Identifying the Author of Online
Defamation:
A major barrier to online defamation
cases is the anonymity of the Internet.
ISPs can only disclose personal
information about its customers when
ordered to do so by a court. 25
ONLINE DEFAMATION (2 OF 2)
 Liability of ISPs: The Communications
Decency Act provides broad protection for
ISPs.
General Rule: ISPs are not liable for
publishing defamatory statements that
come from a third party.
Exceptions: Some courts have started
establishing limits to this immunity.
• SEE CASE IN POINT 9.19 FAIR HOUSING COUNCIL OF
SAN FERNANDO VALLEY V. ROOMMATE.COM
26
(2012).
§5: OTHER ACTIONS INVOLVING
ONLINE POSTS
 E-mails, tweets, posts, and other online
communications can be the basis for
almost any type of tort.
 Suits relating to online conduct may also
involve allegations of wrongful

interference or infliction of emotional
distress.
27
§6: PRIVACY (1 OF 4)
 The right to privacy is guaranteed by the
Bill of Rights and some state
constitutions.
 Major social media and Internet sites
have been accused of violating users’
privacy rights. 
28
PRIVACY (2 OF 4)
 But to prevail in an invasion of privacy
lawsuit, the plaintiff must have had a
reasonable expectation of privacy.
People expect privacy when they enter
personal financial information online.
People also expect that online companies
will follow their own privacy policies.
But does a plaintiff have a reasonable
expectation of privacy on social media?
29
PRIVACY (3 OF 4)
 Data Collection and Cookies: Retailers collect
detailed information about consumers’
behavior and preferences via cookies in order
to personalize online services.
Does collection information on consumers
violate any privacy right?
Should retailers be allowed to “sell” that
information to third parties?
What about “targeted advertising”?
30
PRIVACY (4 OF 4)
 Internet Companies’ Privacy Policies:
Due to consumer complaints, the Federal
Trade Commission (FTC) forced many
companies to enter a consent decree
that allows the FTC broad power to
review their privacy and data practices.
Companies that violate the terms of the
decree can be sued by the FTC.
31

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BUSINESS LAW

TEXT AND CASES

CLARKSON MILLER CROSS  

CHAPTER 9: INTERNET LAW,

 Social media provides a means to

 Employers’ Social Media Policies:

involve allegations of wrongful

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