The second annual global study on how businesses are incorporating social media has been published by Proskauer. The study provides a look at differing standards globally as well as offering some recommendations on best practices. “Social Media in the Workplace Around the World 2.0” is well worth the read, especially if you are still grappling with the issue at your own place of work. “Proskauer Study Recommends Corporate Best Practices for Navigating Challenges of Social Media in the Workplace” provides a summary and link to the study.

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It seems it’s already time for the 2012 end of year lists to start appearing. Here is one from Alex Fitzpatrick on the “7 Landmark Tech Laws Passed in 2012.” It will be interesting to see how some of these spread to other states and countries in the coming months.

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A new study shows that while many Australian law firms are making use of social media, few of those firms have and official social media policy or offer any kind of social media training. James Barnes writes about the issue in “Oz Firms Lack Social Media Nous.”

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Social media continues to have its role and presence in the court defined. Up until recently, social media has played more of a role in civil cases, but it is now finding its way into how criminal cases play out too. One such case is the Trayvon Martin murder case in Florida. Lizette Alvarez looks at how Mark O’Mara, the defense lawyer for George Zimmerman, is using social media in “Social Media, Growing in Legal Circles, Finds a Role in Florida Murder Case.”

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by Michael Kernan

We are all certain of our privacy rights in our financial and personal affairs.  We are also very familiar with trade secret protection of the way we do business and our business matters.  When you store these matters on the cloud, does that take away this privacy?  The U.S. government has suggested that it does.
Read more on this issue here.

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Social media platforms are growing in popularity in the Middle East. There have already been questions of censorship versus freedom of speech. Digital media engagement is strongest among younger demographics but is gaining steadily. As content is increasingly available on digital platforms, it is likely that other legal issues will arise. Yousef  Gamal El-Din provides more information on the changing landscape in “Social Media Giants Leap Into Arab World.”

 

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It’s easier than ever to make sure that your new Mobile App is compliant with Federal Trade Commission regulations on truth-in-advertising and privacy. The FTC has published a guide, Marketing Your Mobile App: Get It Right From the Start, to help developers. You can find the guide at the FTC website and the Bureau of Consumer Protection also provides a breakdown of the guide on their website.

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Pinterest is one of the hottest new social media sites and has introduced another slew of questions about its legality. Copyright in particular has been a contentious issue with the picture dependent site. Andrew Mirsky provides a thorough look at the legal issues involved, including images of famous people, copyright – fair use – and trademark. In addition his article “Pinterest: Fair Use of Images, Building Communities, Fan Pages, Copyright” also provides some guidelines in going ahead with a Pinterest account.

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An investigative story about the wealth of the Chinese premier’s family in The New York Times has resulted in Chinese censors blocking the newspaper’s websites and social media, including Sina Weibo which is similar to Twitter. It is common practice for the names of political leaders and their family members to be blocked on social media sites. For more details on the story, read “China Blocks NY Times Website Over Wen Report.”

 

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Given the new laws passed recently in numerous states such as New York, New Jersey, California, South Carolina, Washington, Ohio, Minnesota, Michigan, Missouri, and Massachusetts, it is more important than ever to have a clear social media policy in place in your organization. The policy must, of course, be compliant with the law and serve the best interests of company and employees alike. Elizabeth M Ebanks provides some excellent advice in her article “Have No Fear: 5 Steps to Implementing an Effective Social Media Policy.”

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