The Modern Workplace

This week, states across the country were determined to start off the new year with their best foot forward. High on their lists of priorities? Protecting the rights of online users. In Michigan, the Governor signed into law the Internet Privacy Protection Act, which made Michigan the fifth state (behind Maryland, Illinois, California, and New Jersey) to prohibit employers from requesting social media sign-in information from their employees. In Arizona, the legislature is considering a bill that would make it a felony to threaten, harm, or defraud someone through online impersonation. In Virginia, the state supreme court reversed a lower court's ruling which required the removal of negative Yelp comments from a contractor's page. The court found such censorship a violation of the First Amendment.

Technology and the Workplace
Michigan Enacts Social Media Password Privacy Bill (Detroit News) (DE Employment Law Blog)
Virginia Court Says Comments on Yelp Should Not Be Squelched (Public Citizen) (NBC)
Telepresence Robots Let Employees "Beam" Into Work (CBS)
"Ubuntu for Phones" Turns Smartphones Into Desktop PCs (Yahoo)
Florida Deputy Fired for Claiming to be Giorgio Armani on Facebook (Sun Sentinel)

Technology and the Law
Obama Signs Renewal of Foreign Surveillance Law (CBS)
Have a Beef With Instagram? A Civil Suit Might be Off Limits (WSJ)
Feds Issue $50k Challenge to Terminate Robocalls (Tech News Daily) (FTC)
Arizona Set to Make Online Impersonation a Felony (Ars Technica)
Write Gambling Software, Go to Prison (Wired)

There's an App for That
Foursquare to Show Users' Full Names, Share More Data (CBS)
Subway's App Future Arrives for Some (WSJ)
Can Your Phone Find Your Car? (NY Times)
NoWait App Manages Restaurant Wait Lists (ZDNet)