It is so easy to press that like button on a Facebook post by your best friend, your coworker, or your favorite company. In that quick second, it is unlikely that a person could contemplate all the potential legal and Constitutional issues that may be wrapped up in such an action. This week, however, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals held that liking a Facebook post is Constitutionally-protected Free Speech. In the case, six employees were fired after they supported a candidate for sheriff by liking him on Facebook. The Court found that liking him was equivalent to showing political support by putting a sign on their lawn and is protected speech. Elsewhere this week, new apps are helping peoples memories and Pandora won a court battle over the licensing fees of the music it streams.
Technology and the Workplace
Top Ten Cloud Computing Skills Recruiters Search For (Forbes)
Salesforce and Workday Form Cloud Alliance (NYTimes)
Technology at Work: Five Companies Doing IT Right (Forbes)
Improving the Big Data Toolkit (NYTimes)
Embracing the police force of the future (CNN)
Technology and the Law
Court: Clicking ‘Like’ on Facebook Is Free Speech (ABC)
Court Gives a Victory to Pandora Over Licensing Streaming Music (NYTimes)
Reddit, Civil Liberties Groups Renew Push for Email Privacy (Mashable)
Surveillance court releases new opinion upholding NSA collection of phone data (ABA)
Twitters Counsel Helped Make Financial Tweets Legal (WSJ)
There’s an App for That
Google buys smartphone file-swapping app Bump as sharing grows (Guardian)
Outsource Your Memory, With an App (NYTimes)
IPhone owners have problems installing iOS 7 (CNN)
How secure is your iPhone 5S fingerprint? (CNN)
An App That Thwarts Potential Smartphone Thieves (WCCO)