Andrew R. Boortz

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There is a fine line between a lawful promotion and illegal gambling. Sweepstakes are legal, while private lotteries are not. Paying entry fees for a skill contest can be legal (depending on the circumstances), while placing bets is generally not. So it is with great interest that we follow gambling laws – of both the federal and state variety – throughout the country (and internationally as well).
Continue Reading Illegal Gambling and Legal Promotions: The Effect of the Recent Poker-Related Decision

Facebook revised its promotion rules for sweepstakes and contests on the premier social networking site. These revised terms went into effect May 11, 2011.

Communication About a Promotion Still OK

Although the revised promotion guidelines define “communication” broadly, they do not add any new restrictions in this regard. Thus, as it was before, one may…

Today, Twitter and the Federal Trade Commission settled charges that the micro-blogging site had engaged in unfair and deceptive trade practices because of “serious lapses in the company’s data security.” The FTC began an investigation into Twitter after hackers obtained administrative control of the service, accessed tweets that consumers had designated private, and sent out phony tweets (from then-Presidential candidate Barack Obama, Fox News, and others).

In its complaint, the FTC alleged that Twitter was vulnerable to these attacks because it failed to take certain reasonable steps to prevent unauthorized administrative control of its system. Those steps included……
Continue Reading @SecuredTweets: Twitter settles privacy charges brought by Federal Trade Commission

For the past few months, my colleagues and I have been giving speeches regarding the legal and practical challenges inherent in social media. One of those “practical” challenges is developing a strategy to monetize social media initiatives. While this is of importance to brands using social media services, it is certainly important to the services…

FourSquare, Loopt, Twitter, and even Google Buzz are testing the intersection between social networking online and real world, location-dependent activities. For example, you can use Loopt to see which of your friends are nearby, or you can earn points and badges on FourSquare by visiting locations around you. Even some companies are starting…

Last year, the Maine Legislature adopted 10 MRSA c. 1055, which, among other things, attempted to extend COPPA-like protection to all minors (that is, children under the age of 18). The law was plagued by a number of issues, including questions regarding its constitutionality, and ultimately caused the Maine attorney general to promise not…

This continues to be an interesting year for entertainment labor negotiations. New SAG/AFTRA ad industry contracts, SAG’s new television and theatrical contract and studio agreement, an extension of the Non-Broadcast/Industrial and Educational agreement, not to mention infighting and lawsuits. And now there’s a new item – SAG and AFTRA’s separate negotiations with the…

On June 18, 2009, Congressman Rick Boucher (D-Va.) participated in a House subcommittee hearing on behavioral advertising, and gave an opening speech in which he outlined his desire to introduce behavioral advertising legislation for consideration by this Congress. In this speech, Congressman Boucher admitted to being both a supporter and beneficiary of targeted advertising, and…