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This week the Governor of California vetoed what would have been a landmark law on data breach notification. The law sought to strengthen the notification required when databases of personal information are compromised. California’s existing data breach law, which will continue unamended, requires companies and state government agencies to notify individuals when their personal information has been compromised.
 Continue Reading California Data Breach Notification Law Vetoed

Web businesses have fueled the natural cynicism that consumers have when reading online reviews. There are too many reported instances of businesses or PR firms using employees or paid reviewers to post glowing reviews, and, in addition, mark as unhelpful negative reviews of their respective businesses.
Continue Reading ‘Astroturfing’ With Fake Reviews Exposes A Company to Legal Risk

Words matter. Words can come back and bite you. Think before you speak. These are all self-evident truths that no one is likely to dispute. Yet, we continue to see examples of people, who should know better, doing just the opposite. This is especially true in the context of electronic communications – first, in work emails, and now, on social media websites. If it was a simple matter of personal embarrassment alone, then there would be no need for this article. This is not the case however.
Continue Reading Why Every Business Should Have A Social Media Policy

Words matter. Words can come back and bite you. Think before you speak. These are all self-evident truths that no one is likely to dispute. Yet, we continue to see examples of people, who should know better, doing just the opposite. This is especially true in the context of electronic communications – first, in work emails, and now, on social media websites. If it was a simple matter of personal embarrassment alone, then there would be no need for this article. This is not the case however. 
 Continue Reading Why Every Business Should Have A Social Media Policy

The verdict in a recent high profile case alleging false advertising claims is significant for the store brand industry.  The case involved Perrigo Company, a producer of dietary supplements for the private label market, and Rexall Sundown, Inc.  The jury upheld the practice of communicating choice to consumers through the use of a comparison statement specifically identifying a national brand
 Continue Reading Sometimes “Compare To” Packaging Means Just What it Says

The Dilemma

In what began as an innovative way to improve advertising efficiency, online behavioral advertising has spawned “Big Brother”-type fear among watch-dog groups worried about consumer privacy. According to the advertising industry’s “Self-Regulatory Principles For Online Behavioral Advertising,” online behavioral advertising is “the collection of data from a particular computer or device regarding Web viewing behaviors over time . . . for the purpose of using such data to predict user preferences or interests to deliver advertising to that computer or device based on the preferences or interests inferred from such Web viewing behaviors.” In a recent Annenberg study, 66 percent of American adults indicated they did not want websites or networks targeting advertisements to them. Representing the other side of the spectrum, a representative of the American Association of Advertising Agencies has explained, “[M]arketers want their messages delivered to the customer most likely to buy—that is both economically efficient and completely sustainable in a consumer-driven, competitive marketplace.” The dilemma is thus presented: how to balance the privacy concerns surrounding the collection of personal information with the need to subsidize the availability of online content through effective and cost-efficient advertising. This is the dilemma that will eventually be addressed one way or another, either through continued industry self-regulation, or through actual regulation.
 Continue Reading Efficiency v. Privacy: Is Online Behavioral Advertising Capable of Self-Regulation?

On March 29, 2010, FDA published a proposed rule setting forth how it would interpret the Congressionally mandated requirement that “major statements” in broadcast Director-to-Consumer (“DTC”) advertisements for prescription drugs be presented in a “clear, conspicuous and neutral manner." See proposed 21 C.F.R. § 202.1(e), 75 Fed. Reg. 15376 (March 20, 2010).  
 Continue Reading FDA Publishes Proposed Rule on Broadcast Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Advertisement; the 4 New Standards

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”) profits handsomely from the increasingly lucrative collegiate licensing and merchandising market— estimated to be worth $4 billion annually. Yet, current and former NCAA athletes…

Continue Reading In re NCAA Student-Athlete Name & Likeness Licensing Litigation: Former Athletes Seek A Share Of NCAA Licensing Profits

On September 9, 2009, a federal judge in Maine agreed with retailers, marketers, and media companies that the recently enacted Maine law "An Act To Prevent Predatory Marketing Practices Against Minors" is likely unconstitutional. Nonetheless, the judge dismissed the challenge to the Act on the ground that the state Attorney General does not intend to enforce it.
 Continue Reading Court Challenge to Maine’s New Marketing Law Fails