Mobile Magic: The Saatchi and Saatchi Guide to Mobile Marketing and Design

Chapter 15: The Finish Line: Legal Issues, Lack of Support, and Trying to Do Too Much

Legal Mobile technologies have given us an unprecedented ability to connect, share and create. And like anything, that ability comes with the potential for abuse. Let me be clear—I am not a legal expert. I am a creative director and digital marketer. In this section I can speak as a marketer who has had the benefit of working with Saatchi & Saatchi’s excellent legal teams. I’m not here to give legal advice—merely to speak to certain generalized aspects of the legal landscape that as a getting-started mobile marketer you need to be aware of.

The world of mobile legislation is a tricky field to navigate, and lawmakers are still wrangling with how to best regulate issues of transaction, copyright, and usage. On one side, you’ve got old laws that are being applied to situations that the laws’ writers could never have foreseen. On the other, you’ve got new laws and regulations that are rushing in to fill a void created by mobile’s expanded abilities. There are “novel” situations everywhere you look. And since mobile crosses borders physically and in the airwaves and signals, rules and conditions change as easily as you can cross a border.

This applies to your potential audience too. What are the legal ...