January 2008
Thu, Jan, 31 2008
Recent security scandals have raised the profile of the Data Protection Act (DPA). But 10 years after it was passed, many organisations still misunderstand it. Sue Cullen of Pinsent Masons' information law team debunks some of the common myths.
Thu, Jan, 31 2008
The inventor of an early USB memory stick has lost its appeal against the revocation of its patent. The company, Trek 2000, failed to win permission to amend its patent in order to keep it active.
Thu, Jan, 31 2008
Employees who are out of work on sick leave can build up holiday entitlements, according to an Advocate General of the European Court of Justice. If they are then laid off, they must be paid in lieu of untaken holiday, she said.
Thu, Jan, 31 2008
The organisation in charge of the internet's addressing systems wants to change the charging structure for global domain names to put an end to a multimillion pound business that takes advantage of a loophole in its rules.
Wed, Jan, 30 2008
OPINION: Reports everywhere have missed the point of yesterday's ruling in the European Court of Justice. The court did not say that ISPs in Europe do not have to hand over subscriber details in file-sharing cases.
Wed, Jan, 30 2008
Despite press reports to the contrary, public authorities tapped just 1,435 phones and not 250,000 in a nine month period in 2006. The larger figure includes less heavily regulated requests for information about phone usage.
Wed, Jan, 30 2008
OPINION: European life is full of databases packed with our personal information. Airlines collect our data and pass it on to EU authorities for border control; alert lists track those connected with crimes; a new visa system tracks travellers.
Tue, Jan, 29 2008
The European Court of Justice ruled today that EU law does not force the disclosure of internet users' details in file-sharing cases. The judgment could be a blow to record labels and also to ISPs in the UK, a copyright expert has said.
Tue, Jan, 29 2008
Information Commissioner Richard Thomas has asked the Government to create a new offence of recklessly or knowing breaching data protection principles punishable by unlimited fines. He has also asked for other powers to be strengthened.
Tue, Jan, 29 2008
Closed-circuit television (CCTV) system operators would need exceptional justification for recording sound as well as video, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has warned.
Tue, Jan, 29 2008
Social networking company MySpace has won the right to have the domain name myspace.co.uk transferred to it despite the fact that it was registered six years before MySpace was founded.
Tue, Jan, 29 2008
Broadcaster BskyB must sell over 10% of its stake in rival ITV because its shareholding is against the public interest, the Government has ordered.
Mon, Jan, 28 2008
OPINION: Privacy law has never been so high profile as in recent months. After the loss of 25 million people's personal details by HMRC, there has been what seems like a tide of gaffe after slip-up, all resulting in private personal details spilling out.
Mon, Jan, 28 2008
Marks & Spencer broke the law when it allowed the details of 26,000 employees to be held on a laptop without the protection of encryption, according to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). The laptop, and the information on it, has been stolen.
Mon, Jan, 28 2008
Some software can be patented in the UK and the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) is wrongly rejecting applications, according to a new ruling in the High Court. The UKIPO is considering appealing against the verdict.
Thu, Jan, 24 2008
OPINION: The former CEO of a US tech giant will have 21 long months in which to rue the day he ever heard of stock option backdating. Brocade Communications' Gregory Reyes has been sent to prison for 21 months and fined $15 million for backdating options.
Thu, Jan, 24 2008
The Government's new powers to force the handover of encryption keys could be vulnerable to a legal challenge under the Human Rights Act's guarantee to a fair trial. People who refuse keys or passwords face up to five years in jail.
Thu, Jan, 24 2008
A bill has been introduced in Parliament which would force online retailers to check customers' ages before selling goods that cannot be sold to children.
Thu, Jan, 24 2008
The right of football clubs to carve up foreign markets for broadcasting matches will be challenged at a full trial after the clubs failed to win a snap judgment against a firm selling Greek decoder cards to UK pubs.
Wed, Jan, 23 2008
A clothes shop that used designer armchairs and sofas in a window display and in a rest area for customers did not infringe copyright in the furniture, according to an Advocate General who gave her opinion to the European Court of Justice last week.
Wed, Jan, 23 2008
An advert which promised that a plumber had 'no call out charge to your door' was untruthful because a charge was incurred as soon as the plumber entered a property, according to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
Wed, Jan, 23 2008
Google has accused European Union authorities of attempting to use antitrust laws to tackle privacy issues. The company was defending its proposed acquisition of online advertising company DoubleClick.
Wed, Jan, 23 2008
Canadian copyright reform is in danger of stopping consumers blocking spyware, Canada's Privacy Commissioner has warned. Jennifer Stoddart has added her voice to the concerns of activists opposing reforms which are seen as too industry-friendly.
Tue, Jan, 22 2008
The Court of Appeal has rejected an Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) ruling that said that the legality of employers' decisions could be affected by events in the future. The ruling cleared up several conflicting EAT rulings on disability discrimination.
Mon, Jan, 21 2008
Mobile phone network 3 has been refused permission to force its rivals to disclose emails and documents in a process that would have cost each of them £200,000. The High Court ruled that 3's requests were not specific enough.
Mon, Jan, 21 2008
The European Parliament has approved plans that will make it easier for people to borrow money from banks in any European country. The Consumer Credit Directive has been backed in a European Parliament vote.
Mon, Jan, 21 2008
Irish digital rights activists have said that reported Irish Government plans to keep records of electronic communications are being introduced without adequate public notice or consultation.
Fri, Jan, 18 2008
One in six pounds spent shopping last year was spent on the internet. Online retail sales in 2007 were over 50% higher than in 2006, according to data from UK trade body the Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG).
Fri, Jan, 18 2008
A landmark court ruling which last year backed the European Commission's last competition action against Microsoft may not be as helpful in its current action as has been widely thought, according to a competition lawyer.
Thu, Jan, 17 2008
A software firm has unsuccessfully billed a local authority £10,000 after its website received lots of traffic from the council. The bill was based on a claim that Derby Council staff were using a free web tool for work purposes.
Thu, Jan, 17 2008
The Carphone Warehouse allowed customers to view other people's account details, passed inaccurate information on to debt collectors and opened accounts in the wrong name, according to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
Wed, Jan, 16 2008
One of the largest telecoms firms in the US is contemplating the introduction of a filter to block copyright-infringing traffic in its internet service. The company said that network-level filtering was the "optimal" way to deal with piracy.
Wed, Jan, 16 2008
Most corporate executives believe that blogs, wikis and social networks will help employees to work more efficiently. But widespread adoption of Web 2.0 is being thwarted by security and governance concerns, according to research by KPMG.
Wed, Jan, 16 2008
Irish courts can order companies to undertake expensive data mining under electronic discovery rules, according to a ruling from the Irish Supreme Court. The ruling expands what is possible there under electronic discovery rules.
Wed, Jan, 16 2008
An advert for a computer game has been banned from television. The advert for 'Stranglehold' had realistic violence, constant gunfire and condoned violence, according to ad watchdog the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
Tue, Jan, 15 2008
Trade mark applicants will soon be able to pay an extra £300 to be fast-tracked through the system, but one expert has said that the new plan will only shave a few weeks from a process that can take years.
Tue, Jan, 15 2008
A British man who was selling £12,000 software for £12 on eBay faces up to 10 years in prison. He pleaded guilty to copyright infringement and will be sentenced in February.
Tue, Jan, 15 2008
The European Commission has launched a new case against Microsoft over claims that it is using its market dominance to stifle competition. The Commission is basing its arguments on a crucial court victory over Microsoft last year.
Tue, Jan, 15 2008
A number of big name tech firms including IBM, Sony and Nokia have joined forces to work on a patent-sharing plan, dubbed Eco-Patents Commons.
Tue, Jan, 15 2008
A House of Commons watchdog has accused BBC chief Mark Thompson of illegally supporting Microsoft. In failing to ensure iPlayer on demand services are available to all licence fee payers he has been blinded by the novelty of the internet, it's charged.
Mon, Jan, 14 2008
Network Solutions is developing a way to hold a domain name exclusively for a person who has searched for that name's availability. The registrar has come under fire for policies to combat domain name scams that critics have said make the situation worse.
Mon, Jan, 14 2008
The state of New York will probe Intel to determine whether the world's biggest microchip maker has behaved anti-competitively. The company is already the subject of a European Commission case following a six-year investigation.
Mon, Jan, 14 2008
A law to protect workers when a business changes hands can apply to jobs transferred outside Europe, according to a recent ruling. But British workers could be left jobless and without compensation in such cases, an employment specialist has warned.
Fri, Jan, 11 2008
The European Commission will investigate public service broadcasting's use of new media to determine whether state aid to broadcasters is unfair to commercial competitors.
Thu, Jan, 10 2008
The government turned up the heat on internet providers today, warning that laws to force disconnection of illegal filesharers are already being drafted for a parliamentary debut in November.
Thu, Jan, 10 2008
Intel has said it will defend itself against charges of anti-competitive behaviour. The world's biggest microchip manufacturer has asked the European Commission for a hearing date so it can respond to accusations of anti-competitive practices.
Thu, Jan, 10 2008
Payment card firm Maestro International has failed in its attempt to gain control of the domain name maestro.co.uk. The MasterCard subsidiary lost an appeal against a ruling in favour of a man who owns many other domain names that match famous brands.
Wed, Jan, 9 2008
One celebrity magazine is suing another for copyright infringement over passages taken from one interview and inserted into another. OK! is suing Heat over its use of quotes from its interview with Britney Spears' 16 year-old pregnant sister.
Wed, Jan, 9 2008
Apple will lower its prices for music downloads in the UK following pressure from consumer lobby group Which? to the European Commission. The Commission has welcomed the move, but Apple has warned it could lead to cuts in its UK catalogue.
Wed, Jan, 9 2008
The European Commission says European media businesses should be able to offer creative content in a single legal environment.
Wed, Jan, 9 2008
US consumer protection body the Federal Trade Commission has backed a tightening of rules on internet advertising and the use of personal information. It has proposed stronger industry regulation of the tracking of users' habits.
Tue, Jan, 8 2008
The Government has proposed allowing private copying of music and films and relaxed restrictions on copyright for schools and libraries in a major intellectual property consultation launched today.
Tue, Jan, 8 2008
A senior banking industry figure has left his job after making a joke about Muslims which reportedly stunned colleagues and was the subject of complaints. Marc Howells of Barclaycard Europe has left his post.
Tue, Jan, 8 2008
Employees who left a company to start up a rival breached that firm's database rights when they took information with them, the High Court has ruled. The firm failed to prove, though, that the actions breached the company's confidentiality.
Tue, Jan, 8 2008
The chief executive of media regulator Ofcom wants to expand his office's powers with new laws that would make its programming sanctions as powerful as its advertising ones.
Tue, Jan, 8 2008
Internet radio station Pandora will stop broadcasting to the UK next week after failing to reach a deal with music rights holders. The UK was the only territory outside of the US to which Pandora still broadcast, but that will stop on 15th January.
Mon, Jan, 7 2008
The Football Association could have broken the law if it had chosen an Englishman above Fabio Capello as England manager because of his nationality, an employment specialist has warned. Capello, an Italian, starts his job in charge of England today.
Mon, Jan, 7 2008
A journalist has been refused the right under freedom of information laws to receive a list of anti-social behaviour order (ASBO) recipients because disclosure of a person's name long after the award of an ASBO is not the same as disclosure at the time.
Mon, Jan, 7 2008
US regulator the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said that Google's acquisition of online advertising company DoubleClick could go ahead, despite some people's concerns about its effect on competition in the online advertising market.
Mon, Jan, 7 2008
Europe's top privacy official the European Data Protection Supervisor has warned of serious flaws in a proposal to send European air passengers' data to US officials.
