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We posted last year about the prevalence of cyberbullying on social networks. The longer-term consequences of that are just now finding their way into our legal system, and this week the US Supreme Court refused to hear the case of Doninger v. Niehoff, which was the case involving a high school junior girl named Avery Doninger. Back in 2007, she criticized school officials for not allowing a student concert, and said on her LiveJournal blog that the "douchebags in central office" had cancelled the event. Niehoff was the principal, and was granted "qualified immunity" from Doninger's suit. This is the part of the law that shield's public officials from legal liability when there is no clear case law. By not hearing the appeal, this decision of qualified immunity stands.

If the "illegal streaming bill" becomes law, kids like Justin Bieber could be convicted of a felony just for singing copyrighted songs and posting them to YouTube. So why does Justin Bieber want to take down FreeBieber.org?

The background is this, if you haven't seen it already. An organization called Fight For the Future is trying to draw attention to Senate Bill 978, commonly known as the "illegal streaming bill." Because trying to draw attention to intellectual property legislation is usually difficult, the group tried a different approach: FreeBieber.org.

In a first in the mobile health marketplace, the US Federal Trade Commission has filed settlements against two app makers that falsely claimed that using their smartphone apps would eradicate blemishes in teens and adults

The FTC passed down the proposed settlement claims against DermApps and Acne Pwner, forcing them to pay in total $14,294 and $1,700 respectively to the thousands of people who downloaded the apps from the iTunes store in a belief that it would shape up their skin flaws.

Do you remember the days when Geocities and bulletin board systems walked the earth? It might be a stretch to say that these early communities were social media. Certainly, they laid the groundwork for what we use today and played a key role in how electronic communities came together. To jog your memory and provide some entertainment value, an interesting chart in a newsletter by law firm Morrison & Foerster here is worth a glance. Yes, a law firm.

Microsoft has admitted that it will hand over data to the U.S. government, if properly requested, even if that data is stored somewhere other than the U.S.

The issue, according to ZDNet's Zack Whittaker, is that because Microsoft is a U.S. company it has to comply with the Patriot Act, and that means handing over data that may be offshore. The same rules would apply to Amazon Web Services and any other U.S. based cloud provider that has servers overseas.

Oh, baby, baby, it's a wild, unregulated world. Facebook and LinkedIn, among other online social networks, are vast private communities that have thrived without oversight from any policy-making body. And new social networks are proliferating like bed bugs in a cheap hotel. As a result, trademark protection on social networks is becoming a serious concern for corporations.

Your personal and corporate reputation and popularity on these networks pivot on an identity known as your username. The role of usernames as brand identifiers is following a similar pattern as domain names but without any of the protections that trademarks owners enjoy.

All businesses have legal needs but not every company has the resources to hire a team of fancy, top notch lawyers.

For smaller companies and nonprofits who fall into this category, there's Rocket Lawyer, a Website that offers legal assistance on a small business budget.

The first client, first sale, the website launch, the availability of the first prototype... Throughout the life of a startup there's no shortage of exciting milestones. Yet, I'm fairly confident that your first encounter with business and tax laws won't make the list.

While company filings and regulations may not be the most glamorous parts of your startup, they're absolutely critical to the success of your business and safety of your personal savings. Here's a quick rundown of the laws and regulations you need to consider when creating a startup. Of course, depending on your type of business, hiring a tax accountant or good attorney with specific experience in your industry can go a long way to helping you steer clear of trouble.

As we've touched upon here before on ReadWriteStart, addressing legal concerns can be daunting for first-time entrepreneurs. When do you really need a lawyer, for example? What can you do to make sure you don't find yourself in legal hot water?

Patent lawyer Brett J. Trout offers a list of ten things you can do to help make sure that your website doesn't do just that. In a post on Business Know-How, he lists the "ten legal oversights that can shut down your company website."

Despite claims that the age of privacy is over, many Internet users continue to have privacy concerns, particularly as more and more of our personal data is stored and shared online.

Having a privacy policy for your startup is important then in terms of meeting the legal requirements for protecting your customers' personal information. But it's also important in terms of building trust of people who use your products and services. And while, granted, not everyone is going to click on the link to read your privacy policy, that doesn't mean you can avoid addressing this topic. And in fact, how you address privacy issues might be a way that sets your startup apart from your competitors.