Mark E. Young, Communications Counsel, PARTNERS+simons is moderating a panel on \\"The Law of the Blog.\\" The panelists are

• Arik Hesseldahl, Senior Editor, Forbes.com
• Denise M. Howell, Counsel, Reed Smith Crosby Heafey LLP
• John Palfrey, Executive Director, Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Harvard Law School
• Catherine E. Reuben, Partner, Robinson & Cole LLP
• Maurice J. Ringel, Esq., Founder & President, Ringel Law Group, PC

Denise makes the point that the root of litigation is interaction and blogs are all about interaction.

John recommends the Creative Commons license and to be sure your copy right statement is baked into your RSS feed. After a question from the audience, John says that you need to make sure you understand the license and what rights are being given away, whether you can legally give them away, etc.

Catherine talks about employee relations. She says not to automatically sign confidentiality agreements when you take a job. Exclude things that are overly broad. Your employer may own your blog.

Maurice says that to the extent a blog may be considered advertising, it may be subject to laws regulating ads.

Arik is giving some specific examples of where journalists have been shut down by their employers for writing a blog.