Social Media Podcast No.16 now available on iTunes

Google Execs get jail sentence, Gadgets Galore and where to get a Social Media Policy free

Iain Murray from Chardfm makes his debut as our Gadget advisor, we're still trying to give him a name so please let us know your ideas at gordon@podcastmatters.co.uk Iain discusses lots of great gadgets, web sites and mobile apps.

John Mackenzie, Partner at Pinsent Masons the law firm behind out-law.com joins us to talk about the recent ruling in the Italian Courts which led to three Google Execcutives being handed suspended jail sentences. John explains the law behind this case and why it could be a landmark ruling.

Steve Cook from Empire HR http://www.empirehr.com tells us why it's so important for organisations to have a Social Media Policy and the implications for the companies that don't give out proper guidelines to employees.

Download or subscribe to the podcast here

New Media Breakfast Glasgow 27th November

The Glasgow breakfast in Friday 27th seems to have been a success with lots of good feedback about John MacKenzie's presentation on legal issues and user generated content. John MacKenzie, partner with Pinsent Masons is clearly an expert in this field and, a very enthusiastic user of social media. And, what a great compliment to his presentation that we ran out of time for the scheduled look at some viral video, the Q&A session and discussion was too good to cut short.

John took us through case studies covering the following topics:

• Using third party's material
• Ownership of material posted on social networking or blogging sites
• Mashups
• Web-scraping
• Protecting reputation on Facebook
• False testimonials

John also referred to some articles and web sites during his presentation, I have listed these here in no particular order:

• Bogus online reviews face EU ban
• ECJ rulings on Google keywords might not resolve controversy, warns High Court
• Monsterski raising money for the MS Trust
• Swede can't swallow McDonald's Pizza
• Tech companies revealed as source of fake reviews
• Why the Advocate General got Google Adwords wrong
• Wikipedia:Text of Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Thank you again to John for his presentation, I recommend you come along and hear him at the New Media Breakfast in Edinburgh if you missed him in Glasgow. (Date of New Media Breakfast in Edinburgh to be confirmed)

Thanks also to No.29 who again provided the bacon rolls, tea and coffee with excellent service and attention to detail. What a difference it makes to turn up at a venue and have everything provided the way they said it would be. (See my previous post about Pittodrie in Aberdeen)

The December New Media Breakfast would have fallen between Christmas and New Year so, we have decided to make the next one on the 29th January 2010, we will be posting details about the topic and speakers in due course. To be sure that you are kept up to date with all the events you should join the Podcastmatters Network then join the New Media Breakfast Group where you can get all the details and leave comments or suggestions for the New Media Breakfast Team.

Do you know your legal position with social media?

There are many issues surrounding New and Social Media that users must be aware of, particularly if you are adopting this as a medium to promote your business, your brand or, your products.




• Who actually owns the content posted on social network?
• What rights do your employees have to the contact base they create in your time?
• Astrotrurfing - the issues of transparency and disclosure
• Scrapping – gathering content from other sites for your own use
• Social networks in the workplace – employers and employees rights?

These are just some of the topics that need to be considered when employing social media. John MacKenzie, Partner with Pinsent Masons, will discussing these and other issues at this week’s New Media Breakfast (Friday 27th November at No.29). This promises to be an extremely informative presentation with lots of valuable advice for anyone using social media. I hope you can make it along, I’m sure you wont be disappointed.

We will also take a brief look at some effective viral video to show you how some consumer products and business to business users are utillising sites like YouTube to get their messages out. I hope you can make it along, I’m sure you wont be disappointed. You can book your place at the breakfast here or, call Fiona on 0141 616 3152 and she will add your name to the attendance list.

I look forward to seeing you there.


John is a Solicitor Advocate who deals with a range of commercial litigation matters. His principal expertise lies in intellectual property, and IT litigation. John also advises client on IP portfolio management, and particularly online disputes. John has dealt with many major claims before the Court of Session and appears before the higher courts on a regular basis. His clients have included UK and global banking, IT, energy, manufacturing and utility companies. He has also carried out extensive advocacy before the Inner House of the Court of Session (Court of Appeal equivalent).

John regularly lectures and writes on IP and dispute resolution issues and is the author of the book ‘Written Pleadings’. He sits on the Lord President's Consultative Committee on Commercial Actions.