Advertising and Marketing Law
Mobile Marketing Matures: Legal Issues Persist
January 24, 2012Earlier this week, I was interviewed as a legal expert in the PR News digital article “As Texting Moves from Simple Bottom-Line Actions, R U Ready?” (See January 23, 2012 edition at www.prnewsonline.com.) After exploring some of the innovations in mobile marketing for PR professionals, the article included my comments about the biggest legal risks in mobile marketing. These are 1) creating a proper consumer opt-in; 2) conducting legal prize promotions; and 3) identifying privacy concerns.
Read More...Legal Requirements for Claiming Products “Made in America”
January 10, 2012On Friday, January 6, 2011, The New York Times reported that manufacturing is experiencing an upswing in the United States. When can a manufacturer claim that its products are made in America? What does “Made in USA” mean from a legal perspective? This is a good time to review the FTC’s “Enforcement Policy U.S. Origin Claims” in advertising and packaging.
Read More...What the U.S. Constitution Teaches About Drafting Social Media Policies
December 19, 2011I was a history major in college, and I learned to value lessons from our past. When I read that Supreme Court Justice Breyer was the first US Supreme Court justice to participate in a live streaming social media event this past July, I noted that one of our most historic institutions, the Supreme Court, was taking a giant step forward into the future. I was even more struck when I heard what the event was about. Justice Breyer was teaching Tunisian scholars about drafting a constitution for their fledgling democracy, and he was using the American constitution as the lesson book. Powerful lessons from history indeed!
Read More...Lessons from the FTC Settlement with Facebook
December 6, 2011Facebook and the FTC have announced a settlement over charges that Facebook’s 2009 retroactive changes of users’ privacy settings constituted deceptive behavior. Much of the settlement is a rehash of what we already know, namely that Facebook was pursuing aggressively the erosion of privacy and that the FTC wants companies to implement comprehensive privacy programs that are flexible as new business practices emerge. The most interesting aspects of the settlement are as follows:
Read More...Legal Requirements for Architecting a Social Media Marketing Plan
November 28, 2011In September, I met web strategist Jeremiah Owyang, Industry Analyst at Altimeter at FSMU 2011. Jeremiah and I recently discussed his KMWorld speech “Social Readiness: Architecting a Connected Enterprise.” I share five areas for questions and thoughts here.
Read More...What does the Possible FTC Settlement with Facebook Mean?
November 10, 2011The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the FTC is near settlement with Facebook over charges that its 2009 retroactive changes of users’ privacy settings constituted deceptive behavior.
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