If you are interested in new and exciting legal technology that may assist in making your practice more efficient I encourage you to attend LegalTech New York 2011. The conference will be held at the New York City Hilton from January 31-February 2nd. If you are interested in attending LegalTech New York here is the link to register and this is the link for more information on the sessions that will be offered.
[Full Disclosure: Shear on Social Media Law is part of ALM's Law.com Blog Network]
Copyright 2011 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
Egypt's Social Media Revolution
As I am writing this post I am surfing the net looking for information about Egypt's Social Media Revolution. It is reminiscent of the events that took place in Iran last year during their election season. The Iranian Twitter Revolution failed to achieve its immediate goal of peaceful institutional change but it may have inspired the current Social Media Revolution in Egypt. This eventing, NBC News discussed how social media has helped fuel the protests in Egypt.
In general, for thousands of years Egypt has been ruled by one political party or group. Some of these groups have been internal while others have been foreign powers who exerted influence over Egypt's internal affairs. While researching Egypt's history, it appears that the Egyptian people have never really had the opportunity to freely choose from a pool of candidates whom they want to lead their country. Therefore, it will be interesting to see the final outcome of this situation.
The bottom line is that during times of turmoil organizations must be aware of how people are utilizing social media and they must create social media crisis management plans because social media has the potential to shape people's hearts and minds the way television has been doing so for the past 50 years. Blocking access to social media is not the answer and will only fuel the fire. Therefore, institutions and companies must be proactive and understand the political, legal, and business ramifications of social media.
To learn more about the legal, business, and political ramifications of social media you may contact me at www.shearlaw.com.
Copyright 2011 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.
In general, for thousands of years Egypt has been ruled by one political party or group. Some of these groups have been internal while others have been foreign powers who exerted influence over Egypt's internal affairs. While researching Egypt's history, it appears that the Egyptian people have never really had the opportunity to freely choose from a pool of candidates whom they want to lead their country. Therefore, it will be interesting to see the final outcome of this situation.
The bottom line is that during times of turmoil organizations must be aware of how people are utilizing social media and they must create social media crisis management plans because social media has the potential to shape people's hearts and minds the way television has been doing so for the past 50 years. Blocking access to social media is not the answer and will only fuel the fire. Therefore, institutions and companies must be proactive and understand the political, legal, and business ramifications of social media.
To learn more about the legal, business, and political ramifications of social media you may contact me at www.shearlaw.com.
Copyright 2011 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
NFL Teams and Executives Must Be Aware of the Legal Consequences of Their Social Media Usage
NFL teams and their executives must be very careful when utilizing social media. A few weeks ago, I reiterated why professional athletes and entertainers must exercise caution when utilizing social media. That post was in response to Baltimore Ravens Sergio Kindle's tweets about his medical condition and his subsequent DUI arrest. On January 5, 2011, John Elway started tweeting soon after he became Executive Vice President of Football Operations for the Denver Broncos based upon the recommendation of the Broncos Communications Department.
John Elway and the Denver Broncos received a tremendous amount of positive press by the national media for "conversing and engaging" with NFL fans. Sports writers and bloggers came out of the woodwork to exclaim how refreshing it was for an NFL franchise to utilize social media. It was one big love fest between members of the media and the sports blog community.
For several years, I have been predicting that professional sports will embrace social media. I am a fan of utilizing social media but as a lawyer I advise my clients of the numerous potential legal liabilities that social media may pose for users. Unfortunately, for John Elway and the Denver Broncos, Elway's social media usage may have already created some potential legal liability issues.
NFL teams and their executives should never Tweet how an interview went. On January 9th, Elway Tweeted, " Interviews with Perry Fewell and Eric Studesville went well today. We're looking forward to speaking with John Fox on Monday." Do executives from Coca-Cola or Pepsi discuss who they interviewed for high profile positions or how the interview went? No. So neither should the Denver Broncos or any other NFL team. What would happen if an NFL executive Tweeted about meeting with some, but, not every single coaching candidate and a candidate who would have complied with the Rooney Rule was not mentioned? Could this infer non-compliance with the Rooney Rule?
John Elway also Tweeted about Tim Tebow's status with the Broncos in a series of 3 tweets on January 8th which may have been in response to a report by Peter King that implied that Tebow may be traded. NFL teams must be very careful when tweeting about the status of their current, past, or potential future employees.
NFL teams and their executives may want to exercise caution when utilizing social media to ensure that they avoid any potential legal liability. Conversing and engaging with fans online may garner a lot of positive media attention but there are serious legal liability issues that users need to be aware of if they want to have a successful and non-litigious social media experience.
To learn more about the legal issues that your may affect your social media usage you may contact me at htp://www.shearlaw.com.
Copyright 2011 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.
John Elway and the Denver Broncos received a tremendous amount of positive press by the national media for "conversing and engaging" with NFL fans. Sports writers and bloggers came out of the woodwork to exclaim how refreshing it was for an NFL franchise to utilize social media. It was one big love fest between members of the media and the sports blog community.
For several years, I have been predicting that professional sports will embrace social media. I am a fan of utilizing social media but as a lawyer I advise my clients of the numerous potential legal liabilities that social media may pose for users. Unfortunately, for John Elway and the Denver Broncos, Elway's social media usage may have already created some potential legal liability issues.
NFL teams and their executives should never Tweet how an interview went. On January 9th, Elway Tweeted, " Interviews with Perry Fewell and Eric Studesville went well today. We're looking forward to speaking with John Fox on Monday." Do executives from Coca-Cola or Pepsi discuss who they interviewed for high profile positions or how the interview went? No. So neither should the Denver Broncos or any other NFL team. What would happen if an NFL executive Tweeted about meeting with some, but, not every single coaching candidate and a candidate who would have complied with the Rooney Rule was not mentioned? Could this infer non-compliance with the Rooney Rule?
John Elway also Tweeted about Tim Tebow's status with the Broncos in a series of 3 tweets on January 8th which may have been in response to a report by Peter King that implied that Tebow may be traded. NFL teams must be very careful when tweeting about the status of their current, past, or potential future employees.
NFL teams and their executives may want to exercise caution when utilizing social media to ensure that they avoid any potential legal liability. Conversing and engaging with fans online may garner a lot of positive media attention but there are serious legal liability issues that users need to be aware of if they want to have a successful and non-litigious social media experience.
To learn more about the legal issues that your may affect your social media usage you may contact me at htp://www.shearlaw.com.
Copyright 2011 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Social Media Law Predictions For 2011
Reading the tea leaves and advising clients is what lawyers are paid to do. 2010 was the coming out party for social media and social media law. With the release of the movie "The Social Network" and Facebook surpassing Google in several different web traffic metrics, social media and the practice of social media law has finally come of age. In no particular order, below are some of my social media law predictions for 2011:
1. Employers will continue to grapple with where to draw the line regarding employee social media use.
2. More courts will address social media usage in their instructions to juries and there will be more e-discovery related social media matters.
3. The judicial system, bar associations, and bar counsels will work to find a common sense approach regarding how lawyers, judges, and clients may or may not interact with other other on social media.
4. Intellectual property law will be updated to better protect copyright owners.
5. The Federal Election Commission and state election boards will update their rules to address social media usage by political candidates.
6. Regulated industries such as banking and finance, pharma, etc...will continue refining their approach to regulating social media usage.
7. Federal and state governments will determine what official government social media records need to be retained.
8. Homeland Security, the CIA, FBI, NSA, U.S. Armed Forces, etc... will need re-evaluate their social media policies and determine what they allow their employees to post online.
9. Cyberbulling, Privacy, Defamation, and First Amendment issues will become further intertwined and a rational legal framework will need to be created to address these matters.
10. Social Media Credential Fraud will continue to increase as more people will try to create the perception that they are experts in their professional field due to their social media activity.
To learn more about my social media law predictions you may contact me at www.shearlaw.com.
Copyright 2011 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.
1. Employers will continue to grapple with where to draw the line regarding employee social media use.
2. More courts will address social media usage in their instructions to juries and there will be more e-discovery related social media matters.
3. The judicial system, bar associations, and bar counsels will work to find a common sense approach regarding how lawyers, judges, and clients may or may not interact with other other on social media.
4. Intellectual property law will be updated to better protect copyright owners.
5. The Federal Election Commission and state election boards will update their rules to address social media usage by political candidates.
6. Regulated industries such as banking and finance, pharma, etc...will continue refining their approach to regulating social media usage.
7. Federal and state governments will determine what official government social media records need to be retained.
8. Homeland Security, the CIA, FBI, NSA, U.S. Armed Forces, etc... will need re-evaluate their social media policies and determine what they allow their employees to post online.
9. Cyberbulling, Privacy, Defamation, and First Amendment issues will become further intertwined and a rational legal framework will need to be created to address these matters.
10. Social Media Credential Fraud will continue to increase as more people will try to create the perception that they are experts in their professional field due to their social media activity.
To learn more about my social media law predictions you may contact me at www.shearlaw.com.
Copyright 2011 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.
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