Chapter 9: Internet Law, Social Media, and Privacy

Spam

Bulk, unsolicited (junk) e-mail, accounting for roughly 75 percent of all e-mails.

Cybersquatting

Registering a domain name that is the same as, or confusingly similar to, the trademark of another and then offering to sell that domain name back to the trademark owner.

Domain Name

The series of letters and symbols used to identify a site operator on the Internet; an Internet 'address.'

CAN-SPAM Act

Legislation that permits the sending of unsolicited commercial e-mail but prohibits certain spamming activities.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)

Establishes civil and criminal penalties for circumvention of encryption software and limitations on liability for internet service providers.

Trademark Dilution

Occurs when a trademark is used, without authorization, in a way that diminishes the distinctive quality of the mark.

Cookie

A small file from a website stored in a user's Web browser to track user activities and preferences.

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Networking

The sharing of resources among multiple computers without the requirement of a central network server.

Fair Use

A limitation on copyright where certain uses of copyrighted material can be performed without permission.

Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA)

Amended federal wiretapping law to cover electronic forms of communications and prohibits intentional interception.

Meta Tags

Key words in the HTML code of a web page used to describe the content of the page, can lead to trademark infringement.

Trade Secrets

Economic or competitive advantages that businesses possess due to the confidential nature of their proprietary information.

Online Defamation

Wrongfully hurting a person's reputation by communicating false statements about that person through the Internet.

Social Media

Forms of communication through which users create and share information, ideas, and messages via the Internet.

Data Collection

The process of gathering, analyzing, and interpreting data to understand user preferences and behaviors.

Privacy Policy

A legal document that outlines how an organization collects, uses, shares, and protects users' personal information.