[This post is being revised.]
Category Archives: Internet
Facebook agrees to 20-Year Privacy Settlement with FTC
In a release today, the U.S. FTC announced that “Facebook has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it deceived consumers by telling them they could keep their information on Facebook private, and then repeatedly allowing it to be shared and made public. The proposed settlement requires Facebook to take several steps to make… Continue Reading
Enter the Hyperwrap Agreement: A New Page in Online Contracts
Software and internet contracts for years have been created by means of “shrinkwrap,” “clickwrap” and even “browsewrap” agreements (although the enforceability of “browsewrap” agreements is somewhat doubtful). Two recent cases from Illinois courts now recognize a type of contract called a “hyperwrap” agreement. For the business implications, you can scroll to the bottom of this… Continue Reading
Annual Legal Checkup for Web Sites and Services
With the new year, you should review your web sites and offerings to see if they need any updates on the legal side. Consider this 6 point list. These are the most common updates I see, not a complete list. Your business may need more. Updating the site’s copyright notice to include the new year,… Continue Reading
Using an API versus Open Source
Many businesses don’t consider the benefits of an Application Programming Interface (API) to generate attention for their software or web services, gain backing of other companies and even lower their own customer support costs. I often raise this approach with clients since I advised Intuit on setting up its Intuit Developer Network program a few… Continue Reading
Accelerators Begin to Replace Incubators
The Deal posts an interesting story on how accelerators such as Y Combinator have replaced incubators for early stage funding of internet technology startups. Continue Reading
Data Scraping from Web Services
This month’s Wired magazine has a perceptive article about so-called "data scraping" or "screen scraping" practices. It discusses the practical aspects of data scraping (such as IP address banning or blocking as a practical remedy to prevent scraping), use of cease and desist letters, and use of properly-licensed web services application programming interfaces (API’s) as… Continue Reading
Business Tips for Providers of User-generated Content
Web sites and other online services containing content submitted by users (also known as user-generated content) are obviously a hot growth area. Not so obvious is the fact that these services depend on a little-known statute to protect their providers from legal liability for copyright infringement. That statute is Section 512 of the Digital Millennium… Continue Reading