It was first released on March 12, 1971 in the U.K. and 10 dayslater in the U.S. It was written by John Lennon in the same quickmanner he wrote “Give Peace a Chance,” as “something for the peopleto sing,” he explained in an interview in August of that same year.While later on Lennon and others believed the song “Power to thePeople” was written 10 years too late, I would say it was actuallyway ahead of its time.

Related: Read Rick Gilman's September column, “A new gamein town.”

The Library of Congress, which has the unlikely responsibilityof overseeing copyright law, recently concluded its triennialreview of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, enacted in 1998 atthe persuasion of Hollywood studios and the music industry, fearingInternet piracy.

The result of this somewhat unobtrusive decision was, in fact,quite remarkable. It gave power to the people to decide, amongother things, what smart phones they wanted to buy and whichservice they wanted to use. In fact, consumers can download anyapps and break open eBooks they purchased through one platform anduse them on any device or even convert them to an audioversion.

This decision set hearts fluttering as the power brokers at allstages of the creative process calculated the potential loss inrevenues this might cause. Of course, from the consumers'perspective, the Library's decision and the change in copyright lawwas a long time coming. The tighter the grip some companies likeApple had on its products, the greater the likelihood that peoplewould find ways around it. Even despite the market share Appleholds and the popularity of its products, the people have said,“This is how we want these devices to work and what we want to dowith them.”

That goes for most things these days, especially regardingtechnology. With the hundreds of millions of Web 2.0 userscollaborating, creating mash-ups and building ideas on top of otherideas, the Internet community today has an abundance of potentialto figure out ways to confound even the most diligent of securitysystems to get what people want. More often than not, those verysame people will give away their solutions for free as part of the“greater good.”

While Lennon's 1971 song was written in the midst of thewidespread protests of the U.S.'s downward-spiraling entanglementin the Vietnam War, the words ring just as true today as the peopleprotest the nation's downward-spiraling economy. Just as thoseprotests of the '60s and '70s forever changed how we viewed ourgovernment, the rebellion of restrictions on our rights asindividual consumers is forever changing how we look upon thecorporate world.

Socialmedia is fueling that feeling by giving people the tools totake control over how they interact with businesses and each other,and all the information that goes with it. Individuals nowdetermine what, when and how those interactions occur; they choosewith whom they want to socialize and do business with and, throughthe creation of avatars (computer users' representation ofthemselves, often an alter ego of some kind), choose whether or notto be known to the other parties.

Although such power can be exhilarating, it has both good andbad consequences. Regardless, businesses are finally beginning tounderstand how to tap into this communications media to influenceconsumers, thereby hoping to sway the power the people wield. Butjust as the power is shifting to the people on this front, therules, restrictions and laws are shifting to the corporations thatare tightening the parameters of how they participate in this newsandbox.

Legal implications

I recently attended a business dinner at which a presentationwas given on the legal implications of using social media foremployers. The speaker, a local attorney (and by virtue of completedisclosure, I am not a lawyer nor do I play one on TV), covered awide array of uses in which employees might be engaged while oncompany time, the potential sources of liability and tips foravoiding or insulating your business from them.

For corporations, the potential exposures begin even before thehiring takes place. More companies are using social networkingsites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to screen candidates, notjust for background information, but to paint a fully dimensionalpicture of the person. HR departments must remember to inform thecandidate the company will use such resources, just as thecandidate knows the list of references they give prospectiveemployers most likely will be contacted. And when surfing the Webfor information, what the company uses as a result isn'tnecessarily restricted by law, unlike how a previous employer isrestricted as to what he or she can say about the formeremployee.

Social networking sites that the candidate may have visited orbe part of might uncover information such as sexual orientation,race or disability that, if used to determine their eligibility,could be grounds for discrimination. The same could be said for anemployer that dismisses someone based on their social networkingactivities; it can expose the company to litigation as well.

In the same way HR is responsible for enforcing anti-harassmentpolicies and training in the workforce, social networking sites canoften be fertile ground for fostering such harassing comments aboutother employees or competitors. Gossipy coworkers on Facebook mightthink they are just “talking amongst themselves,” but if the objectof their comments is offended, the company they work for could beheld responsible.

Think of the devastating stories in the news lately about cyberbullies and the sometimes tragic consequences. Now put your agencyin the shoes of the school or board of education where one of theseincidents took place. How would you react? Would your policy andprevious actions with your entire staff mitigate your exposure?

Even the fairly benign process of providing a reference to oneof your contacts on LinkedIn could be problematic for the companyif it is for an ex-employee who was fired from the company forreasons unknown to the employee/friend writing the reference.

Although these are just a few of the growing numbers ofpotential liabilities for businesses using social media, this isnot meant to deter you from leveraging the power of social media.There are ways to protect or minimize your company's exposure, andthey all begin with having an effective and enforceable socialnetworking/media policy. As I've mentioned before, there areseveral guidelines and sample policies on the Web that agencies cantap for inspiration (check out the Agents Council for Technologywebsite).

The policy should be part of every business's employee handbookand personnel policies. All employee contracts should be updatedand each of the staff should review the policy and sign off onit.

A small detail some companies and policies overlook is that ofcontrolling usernames and passwords. If, as I've encouraged in thepast, employers empower staff as part of their responsibilities toengage in social media, then regardless of any personal presence anindividual might have, new usernames and passwords should beestablished and provided to HR. Then if the employee leaves thecompany, you can turn off access to all social networkingaccounts.

All staff should be reminded of the agency's social media policyon a proactive basis. Don't wait for the incident to occur and thendrag out the handbook; by then it's too late.

Balancing act

The truth to this whole subject is that for business and theeconomy to recover and grow, the power has to be shared; it'salways been that way. But to share in it, you've got to grab yourown piece and learn to exert it for your business and personalgrowth.

Author's note: Two brief notes on last month's column on Foursquare. First, as with anynew product, it's only when it reaches critical mass, or as MalcolmGladwell calls it, the “tipping point,” that it will have potentialfor success. This is especially true for Foursquare and othersocial networking tools. In my local community where most of myshops, services and storefronts can be found, and at which Idutifully “checked in” each and every time I frequented them, Ididn't find one person I knew, let alone hordes of people I wantedto get to know. This will change as the usage grows and so, likethe first fax machine, it will only get better the more peoplepower up their social networks.

Second, I discovered that I already had an app on my iPhone verysimilar to Foursquare called Yelp. Who knew?