Articles by William Carleton

Yes, billionaires do use LLCs: Legal insights on the new Chan-Zuckerberg charity

by William Carleton on December 5, 2015December 5, 2015 at 10:31 am 2 Comments

Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to form an LLC, through which they’ll conduct charitable and philanthropic activities, made headlines earlier this week. The New York Times notes that other Silicon… Read More

Angel investing: The walls come tumbling down

by William Carleton on September 23, 2013September 23, 2013 at 1:53 pm 2 Comments

Today is the first day it becomes legally permissible for startups and emerging companies to advertise their offerings. Or to tweet that they are raising money. Or to generally solicit for… Read More

Visual language: Stagecraft in Obama’s Google Hangout

by William Carleton on February 15, 2013February 15, 2013 at 9:47 amComment

The President may be a master of the teleprompter, but Google+ hangouts ain’t television. You can replay yesterday’s hangout with Barack Obama here, though sometimes the visual language of a… Read More

Legal lessons from Amazon’s ‘noncompete’ battle with Google

by William Carleton on December 31, 2012January 1, 2013 at 10:21 pm 9 Comments

As Geekwire reported last week, a federal judge in Seattle has pretty much rejected Amazon’s recent attempt to restrict what a former Amazon Web Services sales exec might do in… Read More

Driverless cars: Looking under the legislation’s hood

by William Carleton on September 26, 2012September 26, 2012 at 9:40 am 2 Comments

So driverless cars are to be street legal in California! I thought it would be fun to look “under the hood,” so to speak, at the text of the legislation… Read More

Questions I’d ask before listing a startup on FundersClub

by William Carleton on August 23, 2012August 23, 2012 at 12:52 pm 7 Comments

Every day I engage with at least one person about how startup investing will change because of the JOBS Act. Crowdfunders want to know when they can set up platforms and… Read More

Boss signing in to your Facebook account? There’s a law for that

by William Carleton on June 4, 2012June 4, 2012 at 9:51 am 2 Comments

Legislatures, state and federal, are starting to react to the trend of employers — at least the creepy employers — requiring job applicants and employees to turn over usernames and… Read More

Facebook may be discovering that mobile users don’t like ads

by William Carleton on May 12, 2012May 12, 2012 at 3:18 pm 6 Comments

The story is out that Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook’s current priority is improving users’ mobile experience. And I know there has been press about the amendment to Facebook’s SEC filing… Read More

Reality Check: Twitter’s patent pledge not what it seems

by William Carleton on April 18, 2012April 18, 2012 at 11:43 am 6 Comments

On Twitter’s corporate blog yesterday, the company’s engineering infrastructure VP Adam Messinger wrote that Twitter intends to implement an “Innovator’s Patent Agreement,” or “IPA,” which he characterizes as “a new way to… Read More

Fiddling with user timelines: A wrong turn for Twitter?

by William Carleton on March 29, 2012March 29, 2012 at 9:02 am 9 Comments

As social web services proliferate, I’m finding Twitter, my first love, the only one that’s truly become a natural feature of daily life. New pretenders feel fun and flashy at… Read More

The JOBS Act means different things to different people in the startup community

by William Carleton on March 27, 2012March 27, 2012 at 1:25 pmComment

The Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act cleared its final legislative hurdle today. It is now on its way to President Obama for signature. The JOBS Act is a big… Read More

Crowding out angels from startup financings?

by William Carleton on March 3, 2012March 3, 2012 at 9:37 pm 11 Comments

As early as next week, we may know whether Congress will change US securities laws to permit startups to sell stock to the general public over the internet. You know… Read More

Why Facebook’s privacy settlement may not be a done deal

by William Carleton on December 9, 2011December 9, 2011 at 1:55 pm 3 Comments

Guest Commentary: “Facebook,” observes Seattle lawyer Venkat Balasubramani, writing about that company’s proposed settlement with the FTC, “is like the stereotypical person in an abusive relationship. It doles out the… Read More

On the Scene: A Geek’s Guide to the Wall Street Occupation

by William Carleton on October 16, 2011October 16, 2011 at 12:04 pm 17 Comments

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71wym2qYQdA&version=3&hl=en_US] Editor’s Note: Seattle lawyer William Carleton spent several days last week in New York’s Zuccotti Park, the nerve center of the Occupy Wall Street movement. He had two… Read More

Articles by William Carleton

Latest from William Carleton

Yes, billionaires do use LLCs: Legal insights on the new Chan-Zuckerberg charity

Angel investing: The walls come tumbling down

Visual language: Stagecraft in Obama’s Google Hangout

Legal lessons from Amazon’s ‘noncompete’ battle with Google

Driverless cars: Looking under the legislation’s hood

Questions I’d ask before listing a startup on FundersClub

Facebook may be discovering that mobile users don’t like ads

Reality Check: Twitter’s patent pledge not what it seems

The JOBS Act means different things to different people in the startup community

Crowding out angels from startup financings?

Why Facebook’s privacy settlement may not be a done deal

On the Scene: A Geek’s Guide to the Wall Street Occupation

Lawmakers demonstrate that they understand smartphones, even if judges don’t

Does the patent reform bill really eliminate red tape?

Tech Law: A new era for startup financing documents

The Google+ rollout on Android and iPhone, compared

Reading the Situation Room photo with startup eyes

SEC to review rules on how startups raise money

Tech Law: Fred Wilson’s $5,000 Startup Lawyer Challenge

Tech Law: When a phone is actually more like a footlocker

Meet This Billionaire Space Tourist Who created Microsoft Word and Excel

Mission to Mars – Everything you need to know

Startup Pitch Bootcamp: Learn from Seattle’s Top Entrepreneurs