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Top Ten Rules for Limiting Legal Risk
Illustration
yellow rule
Cartoon by Mark Anderson.
Ten Rules

1

Check your facts.

2

Avoid virtual vendettas.

3

Obey the law.

4

Weigh promises.

5

Reveal secrets selectively.

6

Consider what you copy.

7

Learn recording limits.

8

Don't abuse anonymity.

9

Shun conflicts of interest.

10

Seek legal advice.

Disclaimer and Contact

This module is based on laws in the United States. Please note that even within the United States, laws from jurisdiction to jurisdiction vary considerably and laws and their interpretation are subject to change. Information is offered for educational purposes. Do not rely on this module or any of its related content or communications as a substitute for the advice of a qualified attorney. No attorney-client relationship is intended or created by communications pertaining to this site or its related content, interactive features, blogs or e-mail.

Please e-mail , at her →CUNY Journalism address, Geanne.Rosenberg@journalism.cuny.edu, with any comments, updates or corrections.

Legal Risk Blog

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Blog Questions and Answers

Key

  • "→" = External Link
  • Highlighted Text Without "→" = Link Within Module
  • To return to the home page from anywhere in the module, click on "Top Ten Rules For Limiting Legal Risk" on the top left corner of the page.
  • To jump to any particular rule from any module page, go to the navigation box on the left side of the page and click on the rule of your choice.

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Rule 9 Animation

More silly animations — this one reinforces the notion that when it comes to publicly traded securities, money-making schemes that involve online posting can be legally combustible.  (Animations from Animation Factory.)

1. The mighty dollar beckons .  .  .

2. You give chase .  .  .

3. You contemplate schemes for outfoxing the market .  .  .

4. Will you use your blog to pump up interest in a publicly traded stock that you own and then dump the stock after a resulting run-up in price?  Will you post false or misleading information and capitalize on resulting stock moves?  Will you abuse your position, steal information, or obtain confidential information and trade on it or tip off someone else?  The Internet provides one-stop shopping for information gathering, moving markets and stock trading.  You get to work .  .  .

5. Unfortunately for you, certain kinds of .  .  .

6.

7.

8.

9. The result could be a virtual trail for investigators and prosecutors who seek to protect the integrity of the capital markets.  Your criminal defense lawyer may not be at all happy with the facts you’ve created .  .  .

10. Your judge likely will be less happy with you than your lawyer .  .  .

11. The End .  .  .

On to Rule 10 or return to Rule 9.

(c) Geanne Rosenberg (Written content)

 

American University School of CommunicationJohn S. and James L. Knight FoundationThe Knight Citizen News Network is an initiative of J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism. J-LabTM is an incubator for innovative, participatory news experiments and is a center of American University's School of Communication in Washington, D.C. KCNN is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

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