Facebook Loosens Privacy Policy for Teens

On October 16, 2013, Facebook gave teenagers (age 13-17) the option of sharing their videos, pictures, and status updates with the general public. Previously, people aged 13-17 only had the option of sharing with people designated as “Friends” of their social network and “Friends of Friends.” In a statement on Facebook’s website, the company touted the new freedoms it was affording its teenage users:

Teens are among the savviest people using social media, and whether it comes to civic engagement, activism, or their thoughts on a new movie, they want to be heard. So, starting today, people aged 13 through 17 will also have the choice to post publicly on Facebook.

Teenagers will also be able to turn on the “Follow” feature for their profile, allowing any Facebook member (Friends or otherwise) to see the teen’s public posts in the main news feed. To balance these less strict settings, Facebook has implemented two new privacy protection measures for teenagers as well. Now, when a teenager signs up for a Facebook account, by default their posts will only be shown to their “Friends.” Previously, posts where shown to “Friends” and “Friends of Friends” by default. Also, when a teen chooses to share their posts with the general public, they will be presented with a pair of warnings. One warning reads:

Did you know that public posts can be seen by anyone, not just people you know?


You and any friends you tag could end up getting friend requests and messages from people you don’t know personally.

Following acceptance of the above warning, the user will be presented with another warning, which states:

Tip: Sharing with Public means anyone (not just people you know) may see your post.

It is likely that Facebook has opted to ease the privacy restrictions on teenagers to compete with other social networks such as Twitter and Tumblr, which allow teenagers to share with the public. In Facebook’s 10-K Report filed with the Securities Exchange Commission last February, the company expressed concerns that “younger users, are aware of an actively engaging with other products and services similar to, or as a substitute for, Facebook.”


Critics fear that Facebook’s new policy affords teenagers too much freedom and puts them at risk. Indeed, users who choose to share with the general public run the risk of being contacted and/or solicited by complete strangers. Also, teenagers that choose to share their images, statuses, and videos with the general public are burdened with the fact that any ill-advised posts may come back to haunt them, either professionally or otherwise.

(Blog entry written by Alex Diamond, IBLT/Carter DeLuca Entrepreneurship Support Fellow for the Fall 2013 semester)

Got an Internet Business Law Question? Ask the IBLT!

The Touro Law Center for Innovation in Business, Law and Technology ("IBLT") proudly announces "Ask the IBLT," a new initiative to help entrepreneurs and others better understand the business-critical issues of Internet-related law and risk management. Anyone can e-mail a question to asktheiblt@tourolaw.edu. The IBLT will provide answers (prepared by Touro Law students and IBLT faculty affiliates) through its blog, YouTube channel, Google+ page, Facebook page, Twitter account and other channels.

Among the topics for questions for the IBLT are:

• Privacy and data breaches
• Social media use (and misuse)
• Intellectual property (copyright, trademark, patent, trade secrets)
• Online advertising and marketing
• Affiliate programs
• Sweepstakes, contests and other prize promotions
• Cybercrime
• Crowdsourcing
• Crowdfunding
• International law

"Ask the IBLT is just one part of our overall mission to educate our students and the business and legal communities about these new and evolving areas of law and risk," says Prof. Jonathan I. Ezor, director of the IBLT. "We can't answer every question, and we won't be giving specific legal advice. Instead, we're answering those questions that apply to the most organizations, and offering information and links to resources they can use to succeed and grow while avoiding the biggest pitfalls of doing business online."

Title II of the JOBS Act Goes into Effect: Golden Age of Venture Capital or the Opening of Pandora’s Box?

On September 23, a major legislative overhaul went into effect in an attempt to help entrepreneurs and start up companies raise money for new ventures.  The new legislation is Title II of the 2012 Jumpstart Our Business Start-Ups (JOBS) Act.  Title II permits start-ups and small businesses to publicly advertise their fundraising efforts and ask for equity investments without registering shares for sale.  Companies can use digital public media such as Facebook or Twitter to help spread the word as well as more conventional media like newspapers and radio.  However, only accredited investors (those making more than $200,000 a year or those with a personal net worth of more than $1 million) may actually invest in these companies.
Title II of the JOBS Act effectively gives companies access to a much broader array of potential investors than ever before.  For the past 80 years, it has been illegal for startups (or any private company for that matter) to notify the public that they are looking to raise investment capital.  The law forbidding public solicitation was enacted during the Great Depression to protect consumers from scams and fraud.  As of September 23, however, general advertising and solicitation of the public are fair game.  All a company must do to begin soliciting openly both online and offline is file with the SEC and disclose their fundraising methods within 15 days of soliciting.
There is much value to be had from the new law.  Indeed, the funding process will no doubt be accelerated, as companies can reach out to more potential investors than ever before.  This augmented process will also allow founders and CEOs to focus more of their time on the actual execution of their business as opposed to expending all of their energy on fundraising efforts.  Investors, too, will benefit from being exposed to more investment opportunities.
Some critics have argued that this deregulation of equity investment will unleash a plethora of swindlers and devious con artists looking to defraud the less savvy investor.  It’s true that restricting investments only to “accredited investors” acts as a safeguard to protect against potential fraud; the idea being that more savvy investors are less likely to invest in dubious ventures.  However, Title III of the JOBS Act, which is likely to go into effect sometime in 2014, will allow non-accredited investors to participate as well.
It remains to be seen whether the critics’ fears of rampant fraud will come to fruition or if Title II of the JOBS Act will herald a golden age for start-up companies.

(Blog entry written by Alex Diamond, IBLT/Carter DeLuca Entrepreneurship Support Fellow for the Fall 2013 semester)

Two New IBLT Entrepreneurship Assistance Fellowships Created

We are pleased to share the following announcement of the newly created Entrepreneurship Assistance Fellowships, via Touro Law Center:

The Institute for Business, Law and Technology (IBLT) at Touro Law Center has established two new Entrepreneurship Assistance Fellowships. The Entrepreneurship Assistance Fellows will assist specially selected early-stage and start-up Long Island companies with faculty-supervised research about relevant legal issues and best practices, in order to better enable the companies to manage the risks they face and maximize their growth potential. Additionally, the Fellows will help create and publish blog entries and other informational materials on data privacy, intellectual property and other key legal issues for the broader business community. The Fellowships will be awarded each semester to two qualified students who demonstrate an understanding of business and intellectual property law and offer previous relevant experience. The inaugural recipients of the award for the Fall 2012 semester are Brett Alazraki and Jeffrey Wells.

“We are proud of both Brett and Jeffrey and look forward to their contributions as the inaugural Fellows of the Institute of Business, Law and Technology,” said Dean Patricia Salkin. “In this competitive market, the Fellows will not only gain valuable experience that will aid them upon graduation, but will make connections within the business community that will last a lifetime.”

Brett Alazraki is a full-time, third-year student who will graduate in May 2013. He is the Vice President of the Intellectual Property Law Society and has been both a legal extern and Canon Insights Legal Intern for Canon USA. He also worked for a summer as a legal intern with Sheldon May & Associates, P.C.

Jeffrey Wells is a dean’s list student and successful entrepreneur himself who received the CALI Award for Academic Excellence in Drafting Commercial Documents & Real Estate Transactions. He previously served as a District Court Bureau Legal Intern for the Office of the District Attorney of Nassau County and a Legal Intern at the Long Island Advocacy Center.

“This is a great new opportunity for the Institute and for our students,” said Jonathan I. Ezor, Assistant Professor of Law and Director of the IBLT. “From its launch, the IBLT has been dedicated to supporting entrepreneurship and economic development throughout our region. These fellowships are a natural extension of that support and an exciting way to provide new opportunities for Touro Law students who display qualities that best represent the goals of the Institute.”

The Institute for Business, Law and Technology (IBLT) at Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center is dedicated to advancing the state of understanding about the intersection of technology, business and the law both within and beyond the law school. It does so through a growing list of courses for Touro Law Center J.D. and LL.M. students, a privacy and technology law blog at http://tourolawiblt.blogspot.com, social media presences on Twitter (@TouroLawIBLT) and Facebook (http://facebook.com/tourolawiblt), continuing legal education seminars for practicing attorneys, and publications and events for the general business community. As part of its efforts, the IBLT frequently collaborates on programs and initiatives with other educational institutions, organizations and companies throughout Long Island and beyond.

Its mission is to improve the understanding of the legal issues of basic and developing technologies integral to the technology-driven business communities of manufacturing, electronic commerce, and high technology. In so doing it assists in the formation, attraction, and retention of new business and to the economic development for the region through the integrated processes of education, collaboration, outreach and research. More information about the IBLT can be found at its Web site at http://www.tourolaw.edu/iblt.

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Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center’s 185,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility is located adjacent to both a state and a federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York. Touro Law’s proximity to the courthouses, coupled with programming developed to integrate the courtroom into the classroom, provide a one-of-a kind learning model for law students, combining a rigorous curriculum taught by expert faculty with a practical courtroom experience. Touro Law, which has a student body of approximately 750 and an alumni base of more than 5,000, offers full- and part-time J.D. programs, several dual degree programs and graduate law programs for US and foreign law graduates. Touro Law Center is part of the Touro College system.

About the Touro College and University System Touro is a system of non-profit institutions of higher and professional education. Touro College was chartered in 1970 primarily to enrich the Jewish heritage, and to serve the larger American and global community. Approximately 19,000 students are currently enrolled in its various schools and divisions. Touro College has branch campuses, locations and instructional sites in the New York area, as well as branch campuses and programs in Berlin, Jerusalem, Moscow, Paris, and Florida. Touro University California and its Nevada branch campus, as well as Touro College Los Angeles and Touro University Worldwide as separately accredited institutions within the Touro College and University System. For further information on Touro College, please go to: http://www.touro.edu/media/.

For more info contact:
Patti Desrochers
Director of Communications
pattid@tourolaw.edu
(631) 761-7062