I recently did an interview with CTV’s Ina Sindhu on questions arising over Google’s new privacy policy. To watch, click on the link in the CTV news video player heading “CTV’s Ina Sidhu on questions arising over internet privacy due to Google’s policy change“.
Google’s new privacy policy
March 2, 2012
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Posted by Brian Bowman
Social media: Is your organization’s head in the sand?
October 26, 2010
Is your organization in the social media world?
If your answer is “no” you’re wrong. Sorry, but it was a trick question. Whether your organization admits it or not, it is in the social media world. Clients, prospective clients, employees and even competitors are almost certainly engaging in conversations about your organization on Facebook and LinkedIn. The question is whether you’re a part (or even aware) of those conversations. The second question is what are you going to do to shape those conversations, to the extent that you can?
The reality is that Canadian employees, for example, are blogging, tweeting and accessing social networking websites with increasing frequency. And the result is increased legal risks for Canadian businesses. These risks include disgruntled employees intentionally revealing trade secrets, defaming supervisors, harassing co-workers, or posting negative information about their employers’ business. There are even additional threats resulting from loyal employees who inadvertently disclose information online that runs afoul of privacy and competition laws. These threats won’t go away if your company has its head in the sand regarding social media.
One important step to dealing with and leveraging social media is to implement a social media policy within your organization. Doing so won’t address every potential headache related to social media, but it will help to manage online discussions that are occurring during and after work hours by your own employees. And since some of the greatest risks I’ve mentioned above stem from your employees, my best advice is to implement a social media policy. Key components in a social media policy should include:
- defining the scope of prohibited activities;
- clarifying to whom the policy applies;
- addressing how infringing content should be removed from social media sites;
- spelling out who, when and how monitoring of social media sites occurs; and
- advising of penalties and enforcement of the policy.
3 Comments | Blogs, Employee Monitoring, Facebook, Monitoring, Online Reputation Management, Social Networking Websites | Tagged: Blogs, Employees, Facebook, Online Reputation Management, Social Networking | Permalink
Posted by Brian Bowman
Internet hyperlinking case heading to Supreme Court
April 5, 2010
Are website operators presumed to have “published” defamatory materials that they deliberately link to from their websites? If not, what are the circumstances where it can be inferred that a website operator has “published” hyperlinked defamatory materials? We may be about to find out. The Supreme Court of Canada has just granted leave to appeal of Crookes v. Newton, the B.C. decision that I summarized in a previous post last October.
There’s still plenty of “grey areas” in Internet law. Hopefully, the Supreme Court of Canada will provide more definitive guidance for legal practitioners and website operators in the growing area of online reputation management. In the meantime, website operators should seek legal advice prior to hyperlinking to any potentially defamatory materials on the Internet.
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Posted by Brian Bowman
PitbLAWg now online!
February 3, 2010
I’d like to welcome my firm, and colleagues at Pitblado LLP, to the blogosphere!
We’ve just launched a new firm blog, called PitbLAWg, that’s intended to provide readers with practical commentary regarding timely and relevant legal issues affecting you and your business.
I hope you visit PitbLAWg by clicking here.
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Posted by Brian Bowman
Canadian Law Blog Awards Finalist
January 5, 2010
The 2009 Canadian Law Blog Awards, or CLawBies, were recently released and I’m thrilled to be a runner-up in the category of “Best Practitioner Blog”.
It was particularly heart-warming to receive the nomination from fellow Manitoban blogger, Donna Seale (who writes an excellent blog called Human Rights in the Workplace). Congratulations to all of the award winners and finalists. The Canadian Law Blog Awards are a project started back in 2006 with the goal of highlighting great blogs published by the Canadian legal industry. Thanks to Steve Matthews of Stem Legal for his leadership in this regard.
Most importantly, thanks to you for reading my blog and to many of you for your ongoing topic suggestions and feedback. I hope you continue to check out my blog as it develops in 2010! In the meantime, I’d highly recommend checking out some of the other Canadian law blogs profiled on the Canadian Law Blog Awards website.
2 Comments | Blogs, CLawBies | Tagged: CLawBies, Law Blogs | Permalink
Posted by Brian Bowman
Help me help you! Join the conversation.
November 13, 2009
In the words of Jerry Maguire, “Help me help you!”
I’d like to know what topics you want discussed on this blog. So please join the conversation by giving me your ideas on my new Submit a Topic! page. I’ll then consider drafting a post on your topic!
I may not be able to “Show you the Money!”, but I’ll do my best to address cutting edge legal issues of interest to you and your business.
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Posted by Brian Bowman
Can you get sued for hyperlinking?
October 21, 2009
The number of cases involving Internet defamation seem to be growing every day. So too, are the number of related issues that businesses need to consider in relation to online activities. Case in point is the recent British Columbia Court of Appeal decision of Crookes v. Newton, where the court was asked if providing a hyperlink to another website containing defamatory comments constituted Internet defamation.
A key hurdle that claimants must prove in defamation lawsuits is that defendants “published” defamatory words. Internet defamation is no different, and in the Crookes case, the court concluded that providing a hyperlink does not necessarily equal the “publishing” of defamatory content. If a website simply provides a hyperlink, or describes a hyperlink’s content in a neutral manner, then according to the court in Crookes, the hyperlink is not adopting the offending words as its own and is not indirectly “publishing” them. However, if the linking website endorses the content of the hyperlink material or encourages the reader to click the hyperlink to the website that contains defamatory material, the defendant may be just as liable for defamation as the original author of the offending material.
The Crookes case provides useful guidance, but businesses should be reminded that each Internet defamation case will turn on its own specific facts, and factors that will be considered include the wording, tone and placement of hyperlinks. To help minimize the risk of being sued for the publication of defamatory comments, business owners should seek legal advice prior to hyperlinking to any potentially defamatory materials on the Internet.
2 Comments | Blogs, Defamation, Internet, Online Reputation Management | Tagged: Blogs, Defamation, Internet, Online Reputation Management | Permalink
Posted by Brian Bowman
Another anonymous blogger outed
October 14, 2009
A widely reported and controversial issue these days relates the identification of anonymous bloggers (I’ve commented on this issue in previous posts). On point, Cook County (Illinois) Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey Lawrence has ordered the identification of an anonymous commenter. According to the Daily Herald, Judge Lawrence has ruled that the Daily Herald and Comcast must reveal the identity of a person who posted a comment on dailyherald.com.
It seems that website operators are being increasingly asked, or ordered, to reveal the identity of anonymous commentators or bloggers, many of whom have likely presumed that their identity would never be disclosed. However, Northwestern University law professor and First Amendment scholar Martin Redish tells the Daily Herald, “[a]ssume a worst-case scenario”. “Proceed on the assumption that your identity can be revealed.”
Americans are very fond of their First Amendment right to free speech (in Canada we call it Freedom of Expression). However, this right does not protect writers whose comments are defamatory. As I’ve said before, this is a rapidly emerging area of law and it’s becoming increasingly important to stay on top of developments.
Leave a Comment » | Blogs, Defamation, Internet, Online Reputation Management, Privacy | Tagged: Blogs, Defamation, Identity, Internet, Online Reputation Management, Privacy | Permalink
Posted by Brian Bowman
Debate rages over anonymous blogs: The Lawyers Weekly
September 29, 2009
The Lawyers Weekly is running a story that focuses on one of the most cutting edge and rapidly emerging areas of law – online reputation management. Here are some excerpts from the story, which profiles an ongoing client matter:
“On the heels of a recent New York state court decision that ordered Google Inc. to reveal the identity of an anonymous blogger in a defamation suit, a Winnipeg business lawyer has asked the California-based online search engine giant to do the same and out a blogger on behalf of an Ottawa-area resident. Brian Bowman, a partner with Pitblado LLP in Winnipeg who specializes in privacy, access to information, online reputation management, intellectual property and technology matters, says that his client was defamed on a site appearing on Google-operated blogspot.com (also known as Blogger.com).”
“The New York court decision and the Canadian case raise “one of the fundamental legal questions of our time over the appropriate balance between legitimate, anonymous Internet speech versus the right for people to protect their reputations,” says Bowman, who expects more of these situations will emerge in the near future.”
Read the full story here.
2 Comments | Access to Information, Blogs, Defamation, Internet, Online Reputation Management, Privacy, Social Networking Websites | Tagged: Access to Information, Blogs, Defamation, Google, Internet, Online Reputation Management, Privacy, Social Networking | Permalink
Posted by Brian Bowman
Push on to unmask Ottawa’s toxic blogger: National Post
August 31, 2009
For over a year, there has been widespread speculation in Ottawa over who is behind a particular blog. In this respect, I’ve been retained by a prominent individual residing in the Ottawa area to deal with defamatory content on the blog and to discover the identity of the anonymous blogger (or bloggers) for court action and, ultimately, damages and costs. Click here to listen to my recent interview on point with Ottawa’s CFRA radio station. The matters discussed in the interview have received considerable national media attention including from the National Post, Maclean’s magazine, the Ottawa Citizen, the Winnipeg Free Press and the Ottawa Sun.
1 Comment | Blogs, Defamation, Internet, Online Reputation Management, Privacy, Social Networking Websites | Tagged: Google, Online Reputation Management, Privacy | Permalink
Posted by Brian Bowman
