MGMT Chapter 9

Internet Law

Deals with unsolicited email, domain names, and cybersquatting

Administrative Agency Investigation

Federal regulators use social media posts in their investigations into illegal activities

Spam

Spam is considered "junk email" that virtually floods mailboxes with ads, etc. Serious problem now; spam accounts are now 75% of all emails

The Eletronic Communications Privacy Act

(ECPA) prohibits any intentional interception of any wire, oral, or electronic communication. It also prohibits the intentional disclosure of the intercepted information

Structure of Domain Names

- Top-Level Domain (TLD) > The right side of the period which identifies what entity operates the website (com, edu, gov) - Second-Level Domain (SLD) > The part of the name of the left side of the period > Similar names often result in dispute among firms. > Furthermore, those with similar names have attempted to profit from their competitors goodwill

Frequent Changes in Domain Name Ownership Facilitate Cybersquatting

All domain name registrars are supposed to relay information about their transactions to ICANN - but that doesn't happen. The speed at which domain names change creates difficulty tracking mass automated registration, hence an environment where cybersquatting can flourish

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

Meta Tags

Words inserted into a Web site's key-words field to increase the site's appearance in search engine results.

Typosquatting

a problem that occurs when someone purposely register misspelled variations of well-known domain names This adds costs for businesses since they have to register not only their domain name but also, different variations. Sometimes typosquatting can fall out of ACPA's reach since the misspelling could be to significant that it's hard to mistake that name with the original trademark

Stored Communications Act (SCA)

prohibits intentional and unauthorized access to stored electronic communications and sets forth criminal and civil sanctions for violators It also prohibits ISPs and Communication services from sharing private convos to certain entities/individuals

Protection of Social Media Passwords

states have enacted legislation to protect individuals from having to disclose passwords

Domain Names

unique names which identify Internet sites and businesses

File-Sharing Technology (Methods)

-peer-to-peer (P2P) networking which is when individuals access files stored on another computer through a distributed network -cloud computing delivers a single application through a browser to multiple users

Applicability and Sanctions of ACPA

> ACPA applies to all domain name registrations of trademarks. Successful plaintiffs can collect actual damages and injunctions > Roadblocks include difficulty finding the true owner of websites bc of privacy services (plaintiff to avoid this must ask for a subpoena) > Facilitating Dispute Resolutions, ICANN offers the UDRP and URS. UDRP is the most common dispute resolution method.

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. So people who file cases must get court's approval to send a order to ISPs to disclose the person responsible

DMCA limits liability for internet service providers

Basically ISPs are not liable for copyright infringement by its customers unless they know about it and do nothing about it

Data Collection and Cookies

Cookies - are invisible files that computers create to track a user's web browsing activities.

Copyrights in Digital Information

Copyright law is the most important form of intellectual property protection on the internet - most material on the internet is copyrighted, that's why Criminal penalties occurs when you share unauthorized copies of something for financial gain and now, even when you exchange unauthorized copies without realizing a profit

Online Defamation

Cyber Torts arise from online conduct. Most prevalent is online defamation which involves wrongfully hurting a person's rep by communicating false statements about that person to others

Anticybersquatting Legislation

Due to so much litigation occurring due to cybersquatting, The Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) was established. Which deemed cybersquatting illegal when both are true: 1. The domain name is identical of confusingly similar to the trademark of another 2. The one registering, trafficking in, or using the domain name has a "bad faith intent" to profit from that trademark

Employers' Social Media Policies

Employees can be disciplined or fired for using social media in a way that violates their employer's stated policies. Courts and Administrative agencies usually uphold an employers' right to terminate based on any violation

Exclusion for Employers

Employers are excluded from ECPA's coverage by two ways. 1. Any device they provide to their employees can be monitored (everything but personal devices) 2. An employer can also avoid liability under the act if the employees consent to having their electronic communications monitored

The Federal CAN-SPAM ACT

Enacted in 2003, the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (Can-Spam) targeted "commercial electronic mail messages" What it did, was that it allowed sending unsolicited commercial email, but prohibits certain spam activities like: 1. The use of a false return 2. The use of false misleading or deceptive information 3. Dictionary attacks; This is when you send messages to randomly generated emails and using specialized software to harvest emails.

The U.S. Safe Web Act

Foreign spam increased due to the FTC lacking authority to investigate foreign spamming Under The U.S. Safe Web Act, this allows the FTC to cooperate and share info with foreign agencies to investigate and prosecute those involved with spamming, spyware, and internet frauds, etc. This act also provides safe harbor for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) - which lifts+ liability for supplying FTC with information about unfair or deceptive conduct in foreign jurisdictions

reasonable expectation of privacy online

It is not reasonable to expect privacy in statements made on twitter or photos posted on social media

Criminal Investigations using social media

Law Enforcement use social media to detect and prosecute ppl - people who commit a crime bragging about it online - or even some police departments go undercover onto social media sites

Exceptions for DMCA

Libraries, scientists, universities, etc. basically the law doesn't apply to educational and non commercial purposes

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)

Makes it illegal to circumvent (by passes) technology-based protections of copyrighted materials

Liability of Internet Service Providers

Newspapers, magazines, and radio and television stations can be subject to liability for defamatory content that they publish or broadcast, even though the content was prepared or created by others. General rule for ISPs tho: Under CDA they are not liable for defam statements coming from a third party

Company-Wide Social Media Networks

Often referred to as an "intranet," these are online places for employees to discuss company services and products.

Legal issues regarding Social Media

SM: Provides a mean by which people can create and exchange ideas and comments via the internet Their impact in litigation processes are during the discovery phase when social media posts are searched to either provide information/prove liability or reduce damages awards.

Their impact on settlement agreements

Social media posts can also invalidate settlement agreements bc posting about an agreement under a confidentiality clause means u breached the clause = no awards given to u

Distribution System

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) oversees the distribution of domain names and operates an online arbitration system. What they do is sell generic top level domain names (gTLDs) which can take any form name like .bmw, etc. from the established (.com/.edu/.gov) ones.

Cybersquatting

The act of registering a domain name that is the same as, or confusingly similar to, the trademark of another and then offering to sell that domain name back to the trademark owner. Which is what gTLDs addressed since it was a problem

State Regulation of Spam

Thirty-seven states have legislation requiring an "opt out" of further e-mail ads Example: an unsolicited email must include a toll-free number or return email address for the receiver to ask the sender to stop forwarding

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 Different from infringement which requires that that the people get confused by the connection of the unauthorized trademark and the original (the products don't need to be similar)