Did you think Facebook was just for “likes” and “status” updates? Think again! A federal district court in New York recently tackled the issue of service of process via social media head on, permitting service via Facebook as a backup means of service for serving foreign defendants. In the case of Federal Trade Commission v. PCCare247, Inc.,… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: social media
New Jersey Poised To Adopt New Social Media Legislation
Posted in Legislation, Social MediaWith the passage of A2878 in the New Jersey General Assembly in March, New Jersey is poised to become the eighth state to “pass legislation preventing employers from asking prospective and current employers for passwords to their accounts on social media sites.” The proposed law, which is now being considered by Governor Chris Christie, would become… Continue Reading
Federal Court Rules That Twitter Invites and Facebook Posts Do Not Constitute Impermissible Employee Solicitations
Posted in Non-Compete Enforceability, Practice & Procedure, Restrictive Covenants, Social Media, Trade SecretsOn January 22, 2013, United States Magistrate Judge Steven Shreder of the Eastern District of Oklahoma issued a report and recommendation, following Plaintiff Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc.’s motion for preliminary injunction against its former employee Todd Cahill, concerning whether certain social media communications constituted impermissible employee solicitations in violation of a restrictive covenant agreement. Pre-Paid… Continue Reading
Upcoming Webinar: Trade Secrets in the Telecommunications Industry
Posted in Trade SecretsIn Seyfarth’s next installment in its series of 2013 Trade Secret Webinars, on Wednesday, February 20, 2013, at 12:00 p.m. Central Standard Time, Seyfarth attorneys Jim McNairy, Mark Hansen and Justin Beyer will address the role that trade secrets play in the telecommunications industry. The Seyfarth panel will specifically address the following topics: What information… Continue Reading
Hands Off My Tweets: Washington State Senate Proposes Ban on Mandatory Disclosure of Employee Social Networking Passwords
Posted in Legislation, Social MediaOn January 30th, the Washington state senate introduced a bill which would prohibit public and private employers within the state from requiring employees to turn over their online social-network account passwords. Senate Bill 5211. As we previously blogged, a number of states have passed or are considering similar legislation, which ostensibly is aimed at protecting employees’… Continue Reading
Employers Take Note: Michigan Adopts Social Media Privacy Legislation
Posted in Data Theft, LegislationBy Jessica Mendelson and Robert Milligan The Michigan Legislature recently passed the Internet Privacy Protection Act (“IPPA”), otherwise known as House Bill 5523. On December 28, 2012, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signed the IPPA, making Michigan the fourth state to enact a social media privacy law regulating employers. In explaining the reasoning behind the law, Governor… Continue Reading
2012 Trade Secrets, Computer Fraud, and Non-Competes Webinar Series – Year in Review
Posted in Breach of Fiduciary Duty, Computer Fraud, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Data Theft, Espionage, Legislation, Non-Compete Enforceability, Practice & Procedure, Restrictive Covenants, Trade Secrets, Unfair CompetitionThroughout 2012, Seyfarth Shaw LLP’s dedicated Trade Secrets, Computer Fraud & Non-Competes Practice Group hosted a series of CLE webinars that addressed significant issues facing clients today in this important and ever changing area of law. The series consisted of eight webinars: 1) Employee Privacy, Social Networking at Work, and the Computer Fraud and Abuse… Continue Reading
Big Brother Can’t Ask For Access To Your “Personal” Social Media Accounts Either….More Social Media Legislation Proposed In California
Posted in Data Theft, Legislation, Trade SecretsBy Robert Milligan and Jessica Mendelson Recently, we blogged about the passage of California Assembly Bill 1844 (“AB 1844”), which regulates employers’ ability to demand access to employees’ or prospective hires’ personal social media accounts. Assembly Bill 1844 was codified as section 980 of the California Labor Code. Recently, California State Assemblywoman Nora Campos has… Continue Reading
Former PhoneDog Employee Off the Hook in Closely Watched Trade Secrets Spat
Posted in Trade SecretsBy Jessica Mendelson and Joshua Salinas We previously blogged about the case of PhoneDog v. Kravitz, a Northern District of California case that called into question the ownership of Twitter followers on an employee’s professional account following the employee’s departure from the company. After over a year and a half of litigation, the parties have… Continue Reading
Massachusetts Court Rules That Facebook Posting of New Job Does Not Violate Non-Competition Covenant
Posted in Non-Compete Enforceability, Practice & Procedure, Restrictive Covenants, Trade SecretsA hair salon’s motion for entry of a preliminary injunction against a stylist was denied even though she had signed non-competition, non-solicitation and confidentiality agreements with the salon, and immediately after leaving her prior employment she was employed by a nearby competitor, a fact noted on her Facebook page. Invidia LLC v Difonzo, Case No…. Continue Reading
Seyfarth Shaw Trade Secret and IP Attorneys Gather At California State Bar Annual Intellectual Property Institute
Posted in Data Theft, Espionage, Non-Compete Enforceability, Practice & Procedure, Restrictive Covenants, Trade SecretsSeveral Seyfarth Trade Secret and IP attorneys are scheduled to attend and participate at the California State Bar Intellectual Property Law Section’s “IP Institute” in San Diego on November 8-10th. Seyfarth is a silver sponsor of this prestigious IP event and will have a sponsor table staffed throughout the event. High level experts will cover… Continue Reading
Zynga Sues Former Employee For Trade Secret Theft While Defending Its Acquisition Of Other Alleged Proprietary Information
Posted in Computer Fraud, Data Theft, Practice & Procedure, Restrictive Covenants, Trade SecretsOn October 12, 2012, Zynga, a major provider of social game services based in San Francisco, filed suit against its former general manager of its highly successful CityVille game, Alan Patmore. Zynga alleges that Patmore, after allegedly refusing to acknowledge his confidentiality obligations, wandered out of the offices of Zynga with 760 computer files, which… Continue Reading
What Employers Need to Know About California’s New Social Media Law
Posted in Data Theft, Legislation, Practice & Procedure, Trade SecretsBy Robert Milligan, Jessica Mendelson, and Joshua Salinas On September 27, 2012, California Governor Jerry Brown signed two bills, AB 1844 and SB 1349, into law, making California the third state in the country – Maryland and Illinois are the others – to regulate employers’ ability to demand access to employees’ or prospective hires’ personal… Continue Reading
California Governor Jerry Brown Signs New Social Media Legislation
Posted in Legislation, Practice & Procedure, Trade SecretsCalifornia Governor Jerry Brown announced on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and MySpace today that he has signed two bills (Senate Bill 1349 and Assembly Bill 1844) prohibiting public and private postsecondary schools and California employers from requiring applicants and employees to provide their social media account passwords. “California pioneered the social media revolution. These laws protect Californians from unwarranted… Continue Reading
Summary of the 2012 IP and the Internet Conference Presented by the State Bar of California
Posted in Data Theft, Espionage, Legislation, Trade Secrets, Unfair CompetitionOn September 14, 2012, the State Bar of California Intellectual Property Section presented its 2012 IP and the Internet Conference. The conference featured high level experts from companies such as Twitter, Yahoo!, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Salseforce.com, True Religion Brand Jeans, and Autodesk, who covered emerging issues and hot topics in intellectual property and Internet law…. Continue Reading
Trade Secrets and Non-Compete Legislative Update Webinar On September 20, 2012
Posted in Legislation, Non-Compete Enforceability, Practice & Procedure, Trade SecretsPlease join us for our sixth trade secrets webinar of the year entitled Trade Secrets and Non-Compete Legislative Update. The webinar will be September 20, 2012 from noon to 1:00 p.m. central. The past year has seen significant statutory changes to several jurisdictions’ laws regarding trade secrets and restrictive covenants and pending legislation proposed in… Continue Reading
Facebook Fans For Piggy Paint Not A Business Expectancy, Michigan Federal Court Dismisses Tortious Interference Claims for Facebook Page Takedown
Posted in Trade Secrets, Unfair CompetitionOn August 9, 2012, a district court for the Western District of Michigan dismissed counterclaims of tortious interference with a business expectancy and conversion brought after the removal of a company’s Facebook page and the alleged loss of its more than 19,000 “fans.” (Lown Companies LLC v. Piggy Paint LLC, No. 11-cv–911 (W.D. Mich., Aug…. Continue Reading
Illinois Becomes Second State In Nation To Bar Employers From Obtaining Access To Employee Social Networking Pages
Posted in Computer Fraud, Legislation, Practice & Procedure, Trade SecretsBy Ronald Kramer On August 1, 2012, Illinois became the second state in the nation to adopt a law prohibiting employers from seeking employee or prospective employee passwords to access their non-public portions of their social networking sites. The Illinois’ law, an amendment to the Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act that will become… Continue Reading
Massachusetts Legislature Considers New Social Media Bill
Posted in Practice & Procedure, Trade SecretsBy Ryan Malloy and Erik Weibust The Massachusetts legislature recently joined the growing wave of states nationwide that are considering bills, which, if enacted, would forbid employers from requesting social media user names and passwords from employees or prospective employees. The issue of privacy with regards to social media accounts has garnered significant attention across the… Continue Reading
Hey Lumbergh, You Don’t Own My Facebook Account: Maryland Passes Legislation To Protect Employee’s Social Media Accounts
Posted in Practice & Procedure, Trade SecretsRecently the legality of requiring prospective hires to hand over social networking usernames and passwords received national attention when New York Sen. Charles Schumer and Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate whether the practice violates federal laws. Although federal legislation has yet to be passed, state legislatures have begun to… Continue Reading
Access To Social Media Accounts In The Hiring Process And Employer Ownership Of Trade Secrets Or Confidential Information Contained In Social Media Accounts: Legislation On Horizon?
Posted in Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Trade SecretsOn Monday March 26, 2012, Senators Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut) and Chuck Schumer (New York), called for federal agencies to determine whether requiring prospective hires to hand over social networking usernames and passwords violates federal law. Blumenthal and Schumer called on the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) to investigate whether such practices violate federal… Continue Reading
Protecting Trade Secrets and Confidential Information In The Social Media Generation
Posted in Trade SecretsBy Robert Milligan and Jeffrey Oh Over the past decade, no avenue has had a bigger impact on society and the ways in which people interact than social media. Websites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, which traffic in information shared on its servers, encourage users to publish every detail of their lives. For employers, the reality of social… Continue Reading
Court Allows Employer’s Interference With Prospective Economic Advantage Claims To Survive In Lawsuit Claiming Employee’s Theft of Twitter Account
Posted in Trade SecretsBy Robert Milligan and Gary Glaser A California federal district court denied a former employee’s motion to dismiss his former employer’s claims for tortious interference with prospective economic advantage and negligent inteference with prospective economic advantage Monday in a closely watched lawsuit concerning the interplay between social media, trade secrets, and employee mobility. We previously wrote about this case from the United States… Continue Reading
Employers May Have Sweat Equity In Their Executives LinkedIn Accounts, But Employees Score Win In War Over The Applicability Of The Federal Computer Fraud And Abuse Act In The Workplace
Posted in Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Trade SecretsBy Scott Schaefers In the age of social media and networking, where employees undoubtedly use their company-issued computers to network with customers, vendors, colleagues, and friends, a legal question presents itself: can employers claim an interest in their employees’ LinkedIn accounts, or other social networking accounts, which the employees use in part to grow and maintain… Continue Reading