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CHAPTER 9
INTERNET LAW, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND PRIVACY
ANSWER TO CRITICAL THINKING QUESTION
IN THE FEATURE
DIGITAL UPDATE—CRITICAL THINKING
Some companies use internal social media networks for work-related employee
communications. Would the same legal rules that apply to monitoring public social
media platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, also apply to company-provided social
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
AT THE ENDS OF THE CASES
CASE 9.1—CRITICAL THINKING
ECONOMIC
How can companies protect themselves from others who create Web sites that have
similar domain names, and what limits each company’s ability to be fully protected? To
protect themselves from others who create Web sites that have similar domain names,
WHAT IF THE FACTS WERE DIFFERENT?
Suppose that the site using candyland.com had not been sexually explicit but had sold
2 UNIT TWO: TORTS AND CRIMES
CASE 9.2—LEGAL REASONING QUESTIONS
1. How is cyberstalking defined by the statute in this case, and what conduct by the
defendant allegedly fit this definition? The Florida statute applied in this case defines
cyberstalking as
a course of conduct to communicate, or to cause to be communicated, words, images, or language by or
2. What standard determines whether certain conduct meets the requirements of the
cyberstalking statute? What law or legal principle limits an injunction that is directed at
speech? A “reasonable person” standard applies to determine whether certain conduct meets
the requirements of the cyberstalking statute. The conduct must meet this standard to be
3. Why did the court in this case “reverse the . . . injunction and remand with directions
to dismiss the petition”? Explain. The court concluded that David’s conduct “does not
constitute cyberstalking, and the injunction violates the First Amendment.”
Applying the reasonable person standard to David’s posts and other communications, the
appellate court found that none of them met the requirements of the statutory definition. “A
CASE 9.3—CRITICAL THINKING
WHAT IF THE FACTS WERE DIFFERENT?
Suppose that Target had asked for a much broader range of Facebook material that
concerned not just Nucci’s physical and mental condition at the time of her alleged injury
but her personal relationships with her family, romantic partners, and other significant
others. Would the result have been the same? Discuss. It is not likely that the result in this
case would have been the same if Target had asked for a much broader range of Facebook
ETHICAL
Would a court also allow Target discovery of Facebook photos that were posted by
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS IN THE REVIEWING FEATURE
AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER
1A. Downloading
Technology has vastly increased the potential for copyright infringement. Generally, whenever a
party downloads music into a computer’s random access memory, or RAM, without
authorization, a copyright is infringed. Thus, when file-sharing is used to download others’
2A. Sampling
At least one federal court has held that sampling a copyrighted sound recording of any length
constitutes copyright infringement. Some other federal courts have not found that digital
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3A. Posting
Piracy of copyrighted materials online can occur even if posting the materials is “altruistic” in
nature—unauthorized copies are posted simply to be shared with others. The law extends
4A. Passwords
By 2013, four states (California, Illinois, Maryland, and Michigan) had enacted legislation to
protect individuals from having to disclose their social media passwords. The federal
ANSWER TO DEBATE THIS QUESTION IN THE REVIEWING FEATURE
AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER
Internet service providers should be subject to the same defamation laws as are
newspapers, magazines, and television and radio stations. Those who support this position
argue that it is not fair to those who are defamed by others on the Internet to not have recourse
against the ISP. After all, there should be no difference between traditional media outlets and
ANSWERS TO ISSUE SPOTTERS
AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER
1A. Karl self-publishes a cookbook titled Hole Foods, in which he sets out recipes for
donuts, Bundt cakes, tortellini, and other foods with holes. To publicize the book, Karl
designs the Web site holefoods.com. Karl appropriates the key words of other cooking
and cookbook sites with more frequent hits so that holefoods.com will appear in the
same search engine results as the more popular sites. Has Karl done anything wrong?
Explain. Karl may have committed trademark infringement. A site that appropriates the key
words of other sites with more frequent hits will appear in the same search engine results as the
CHAPTER 9: INTERNET LAW, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND PRIVACY 5
2A. Eagle Corporation began marketing software in 2001 under the mark “Eagle.” In
2013, Eagle.com, Inc., a different company selling different products, begins to use eagle
as part of its URL and registers it as a domain name. Can Eagle Corporation stop this use
ANSWERS TO BUSINESS SCENARIOS
AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER
9–1A. Internet service providers
No, CyberConnect is not regarded as a publisher and therefore is not liable for the content of
Market Reach’s ad. The Communications Decency Act (CDA) states that “no provider * * * of
9–2A. Privacy
Initially, SeeYou’s best option in this situation might be to give members the opportunity to
prevent the broadcast of any private information by requiring their consent. Otherwise, the
members could legitimately complain that the new program was causing publication of private
information without their permission. Or SeeYou might allow members to affirmatively opt out of
ANSWERS TO BUSINESS CASE PROBLEMS
AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER
9–3A. BUSINESS CASE PROBLEM WITH SAMPLE ANSWER—Privacy
No, Rolfe did not have a privacy interest in the information obtained by the subpoenas issued to
Midcontinent Communications. The right to privacy is guaranteed by at least one interpretation
of the U.S. Constitution’s Bill of Rights and by some state constitutions. A person must have a
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reasonable expectation of privacy, though, to maintain a suit or to assert a successful defense
for an invasion of privacy. People clearly have a reasonable expectation of privacy when they
enter their personal banking or credit card information online. They also have a reasonable
expectation that online companies will follow their own privacy policies. But people do not have
a reasonable expectation of privacy in statements made on Twitter and other data that they
9–4A. File-sharing
The facts of this case indicate that the security of private information in any database accessible
from the Web is weak. And this information can be easily shared with others through peer–to–
peer networks, which allow users to place shared computer files in folders that are open for
other users to search.
As part of the research for their article, Johnson and Tiversa searched the networks for
data that could be used to commit medical or financial identity theft. On one of them, they found
a document that contained the Social Security numbers, insurance information, and treatment
codes for patients of LabMD, Inc. Tiversa notified LabMD of the find. LabMD appeared not to
9–5A. Social media
As stated in the text, law enforcement can use social media to detect and prosecute suspected
criminals. But there must be an authenticated connection between the suspects and the posts.
To make this connection, law enforcement officials can present the testimony or certification of
authoritative representatives of the social media site or other experts. The posts can be traced
CHAPTER 9: INTERNET LAW, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND PRIVACY 7
9–6A. Social media
Yes, a reasonable person could conclude that Wheeler’s posts were “true” threats. Law
enforcement uses social media to detect and prosecute criminals. Police may also use social
media to help them to locate a particular suspect or to determine his or her identity.
In this problem, Kenneth Wheeler was angry at police officers in Grand Junction,
Colorado, due to a driving-under-the-influence arrest that he viewed as a set-up. While in Italy,
Wheeler posted a statement to his Facebook page urging his “religious followers” to “kill cops,
drown them in the blood of their children, hunt them down and kill their entire bloodlines” and
9–7A. Social media
The action by the court in replacing Juror 4 with an alternate was not an abuse of discretion. Nor
did the court err in not admitting evidence that in general Facebook friends do not always
actually know each other.
In this problem, Smith was charged with burglary and theft by taking a motor vehicle.
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9-8A. A QUESTION OF ETHICS—Criminal investigations
(a) The government would want to “seal” the documents of an investigation to
maintain secrecy. For example, the sealed documents could contain sensitive nonpublic facts,
including the identity of targets and witnesses in an ongoing criminal investigation. This is most
likely the purpose for the sealing of the documents in the facts of this case.
The individuals under investigation might want those documents to be “unsealed” to
anticipate what information is sought, to learn what information has been found, and to prepare
a defense to possible charges or to take other actions to avoid a violation of their constitutional
(b) Law enforcement uses social media to detect and prosecute criminals. Social
media posts are routinely part of discovery in civil litigation because they can provide damaging
information that establishes what a person knew at a particular time or the person’s intent. Like
e-mail, posts on social networks can be the smoking gun that leads to liability. Similarly, in a
CHAPTER 9: INTERNET LAW, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND PRIVACY 9
ANSWERS TO LEGAL REASONING GROUP ACTIVITY QUESTIONS
AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER
9-9A. File-sharing
(a) Just because the three roommates are not profiting from their file sharing actions