April 2008
Wed, Apr, 30 2008
A leading computer security company has uncovered evidence that authors of software designed to steal information from infected computers are trying to enforce their intellectual property rights in the underground malware community.
Wed, Apr, 30 2008
The internet is now the second most complained-about advertising medium, overtaking newspapers and magazines for the first time.
Tue, Apr, 29 2008
A landowner who said that an advert depicting a car on his land invaded his privacy has had his claim rejected. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the land was not an identifiable possession of the man.
Tue, Apr, 29 2008
Record labels would have to set up special funds to pay royalties to session musicians under copyright reforms proposed by EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy.
Tue, Apr, 29 2008
The premium-rate phone line regulator has appointed a new adjudication panel and new guidelines for punishments for breakers of its Code of Practice.
Mon, Apr, 28 2008
The House of Lords has proposed making it a criminal offence to disclose personal information intentionally or recklessly. The Lords passed an amendment to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill, defeating the Government.
Mon, Apr, 28 2008
High bank charges can be assessed under consumer protection law, the High Court has ruled. It has given the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) permission to assess how fair banking and overdraft charges are.
Mon, Apr, 28 2008
The head of media and telecoms regulator Ofcom has thrown his weight behind content producers who claim they should not pay for telco network upgrades just because they make video content available.
Mon, Apr, 28 2008
Banks, building societies, insurance companies and financial advisers need to do more to prevent their customers falling victim to identity fraud, the Financial Services Authority has warned in a new report.
Mon, Apr, 28 2008
Apple is threatening legal action against 11 UK e-tailers unless they stop selling iPods imported from outside the UK.
Thu, Apr, 24 2008
A US court has ruled that users have a "reasonable expectation of privacy" in their internet surfing records and that police must obtain warrants from higher than usual courts in order to force ISPs to hand over records.
Thu, Apr, 24 2008
The Court of Appeal has said that employment tribunals do not have to back a fired employee's story simply because the employer fails to prove its opposing case. A tribunal can come to its own conclusion, the Court said.
Wed, Apr, 23 2008
The Information Commissioner has been notified of almost 100 data breaches by public and private sector organisations since the loss of 25 million people's details by HM Revenue and Customs last November, according to figures released yesterday.
Wed, Apr, 23 2008
The European Commission has ordered the computer games industry to come up with a voluntary code of conduct within two years to stop children having access to violent computer games.
Wed, Apr, 23 2008
Four laptops containing personal details of 10,000 people have been stolen from the Bank of Ireland (BOI). The Data Protection Commissioner in Ireland is investigating the thefts.
Wed, Apr, 23 2008
The Advertising Standards Authority has ordered Paddy Power "not to repeat" the approach it adopted in a newspaper ad which showed a "short man" in the back of stretch limo flanked by women under the title "Who says you can't make money being short?"
Tue, Apr, 22 2008
Attacks on corporate IT networks are becoming fewer and more serious, according to Government research. The study also claims that the falling numbers could be an understatement of the true figures.
Tue, Apr, 22 2008
EXCLUSIVE: Google has started recording the streets of its first non-US city for its Street View service. Google vans with mounted cameras have been spotted on the streets of Rome and Milan.
Tue, Apr, 22 2008
The exclusive right of a designer to prohibit distribution of its chairs was not infringed by a shop that displayed replica chairs, the European Court of Justice has said. It ruled that the distribution right is only infringed by a transfer of ownership.
Tue, Apr, 22 2008
A man who owned the domain name redbullsucks.com has been ordered to hand it over to Red Bull, the energy drink company.
Mon, Apr, 21 2008
The European Parliament has said that copyright-infringing music and film file-sharing should not be criminalised. The Parliament has said that file-sharers should not be prosecuted as criminal offenders unless they seek to profit from the sharing.
Mon, Apr, 21 2008
The Government will create a list of 'crown jewel' events whose tickets cannot be sold on once bought. If the ticketing industry will not sign up to the voluntary scheme the Government has threatened to legislate.
Mon, Apr, 21 2008
A European Commission plan to outlaw the publishing of bomb making instructions has been given the approval of the EU's 27 member states.
Fri, Apr, 18 2008
A French court has punished web publishers because of snippets of text that appeared on their sites via an RSS reader. It is believed to be the first time that a website operator has been held responsible for content delivered by a third party's RSS feed.
Thu, Apr, 17 2008
The privacy watchdog for EU institutions has called for a planned requirement for telecoms companies to publish details of information security breaches to be extended to banks, businesses and medical bodies.
Thu, Apr, 17 2008
The number of people prepared to give away their computer passwords on the street has fallen by 67% since last year, according to a survey of London office workers.
Thu, Apr, 17 2008
People behind anorexia-promoting websites could be jailed in France under a law that has been passed by one of the country's two houses of parliament.
Thu, Apr, 17 2008
British consumers are being cheated out of £6.6 billion a year by unfair treatment from business, with telecommunications and personal banking topping the list of problem areas, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has said.
Wed, Apr, 16 2008
Two recent judgments could erode vital protections there for web publishers in the US. The rulings could undermine protections from liability for user-posted material previously enjoyed by publishers.
Wed, Apr, 16 2008
As part of an ongoing effort to index the so-called Invisible Web, Google's automated crawlers are now toying with HTML forms. But only on certain "high-quality sites."
Tue, Apr, 15 2008
Virgin Media is in negotiations with content producers about introducing a system that would slow down customers' access to material from producers that did not pay Virgin a fee, its chief executive has said.
Tue, Apr, 15 2008
The UK music industry has rejected the Government's proposal to legalise the transfer of music from CDs to MP3 players without a levy. It has asked for a tax on devices like Apple iPods which it says should compensate artists for the transfer.
Tue, Apr, 15 2008
Ofcom has failed to prevent the publication of its searchable database of mobile phone mast locations after the High Court backed a ruling by the Information Commissioner.
Mon, Apr, 14 2008
The High Court has quashed an Information Tribunal ruling ordering the release of independent reviews of the Government's controversial identity card scheme. The freedom of information case must now be re-assessed by a new Tribunal, the Court said.
Mon, Apr, 14 2008
Microsoft has proposed a five-tiered privacy plan that it believes should underpin online advertising.
Mon, Apr, 14 2008
The Department of Health is not dealing with freedom of information (FOI) requests properly because of a lack of staff, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has said. The ICO has rebuked the Government department over its FOI behaviour.
Fri, Apr, 11 2008
Residents of Northern Ireland are being denied access to promotional offers because the Gambling Act of 2005 does not apply there, trade body the Institute of Sales Promotion (ISP) has said.
Thu, Apr, 10 2008
A major online retailer which advertised a cut price DVD for just three days breached the advertising code on truthfulness and pricing and has been censured by the advertising watchdog.
Thu, Apr, 10 2008
Three French websites have been found guilty of invading an actor's privacy for publishing links to articles containing the offending material. The Paris Tribunal has fined the operators of all three sites.
Thu, Apr, 10 2008
The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) needs to change its style and open its doors to more vulnerable sections of society, according to an independent review by Lord Hunt of Wirral. His report was published yesterday.
Wed, Apr, 9 2008
OUT-LAW.COM has become the first website from a non-US law firm ever to be nominated at the Webby Awards, hailed as the 'Oscars of the internet' by The New York Times. We are also eligible for a People's Voice Award – for which we'd love your support.
Wed, Apr, 9 2008
A High Court judge has refused to issue an injunction stopping a newspaper publishing a sex video because it is already published elsewhere on the internet. Mr Justice Eady refused the injunction despite finding the material "intrusive and demeaning".
Wed, Apr, 9 2008
Large companies could save costs by making changes to their articles of association in their upcoming annual general meetings, a corporate law expert has said. The changes would negate the need for an extra shareholder meeting later this year.
Wed, Apr, 9 2008
European civil liberties groups have lodged an objection to the EU's Data Retention Directive with the European Court of Justice, claiming that the Directive breaches a fundamental right to privacy guaranteed in the European Convention on Human Rights.
Tue, Apr, 8 2008
Music industry body the BPI has labelled Carphone Warehouse irresponsible and unreasonable over its refusal to ban customers over illegal file-sharing amid reports that it will seek an injunction against the company to enforce claimed legal rights.
Tue, Apr, 8 2008
A US couple is suing Google over the publication of a picture of their house. Aaron and Christine Boring want a court to award them $25,000 for mental suffering and for a reduction in the value of their house caused by the publication.
Tue, Apr, 8 2008
Search engines must delete search logs after six months if they are to comply with data protection laws, according to a committee of EU countries' privacy watchdogs. Google has said that the findings do not take account of commercial reality.
Tue, Apr, 8 2008
A change in the law has made it easier for companies to sign deeds. The change was made by the Companies Act and came into force on Sunday. It means that deeds can be signed on behalf of a company by one director rather than two.
Tue, Apr, 8 2008
All of the companies who admitted to being frequently hacked in a just-published survey outsourced some of their software development, while 60% of companies that outsource do not ask for security to be built in to the technology.
Mon, Apr, 7 2008
Companies could find themselves with significantly increased advertising costs after a policy change from Google on the use of trade marked terms to trigger search engine adverts. But experts say that brand holders might try to fight the policy in court.
Mon, Apr, 7 2008
Plans to jail personal data thieves have been shelved due to a surprise amendment to a proposed new law. The new law will contain a clause threatening jail, but that clause will not be implemented.
Mon, Apr, 7 2008
The UK Government is backing a proposed EU law to control which country's laws apply in cross-border contract disputes. The Regulation, called Rome I, has been revised in ways that satisfy earlier concerns, the Government said in a new consultation paper.
Fri, Apr, 4 2008
More than a quarter of UK companies do not have a disaster recovery plan, and half of the plans that do exist have not been tested, according to just-published research from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
Thu, Apr, 3 2008
EXCLUSIVE: A landmark case on the compatibility of data protection and freedom of information laws was heard by the House of Lords this week. The outcome could have profound implications, according to one expert.
Thu, Apr, 3 2008
A company and its chief executive will be paid the highest damages yet awarded for libel on the internet in the UK. Peter Walls and Gentoo will be paid £119,000 by rival firm owner John Finn.
Thu, Apr, 3 2008
A proposal to shorten the period during which trade mark applications can be opposed will make the Government's separate new fast-track trade mark process more appealing, one expert has said.
Thu, Apr, 3 2008
The banking industry has re-affirmed a policy that makes online banking customers responsible for losses if they have out of date anti-virus or anti-phishing protection. New Banking Codes for consumers and businesses took effect on Monday.
Wed, Apr, 2 2008
A senior European Commission official has backed the UK Government's stance on the use of the word 'free' in marketing in many cases. The official said that genuine 'buy one get one free' (BOGOF) offers without inflated prices should be allowed.
Wed, Apr, 2 2008
Leaders of organisations which lose personal data should think carefully before telling customers, employees or regulators of the incident, the Information Commissioner's Office has said. New advice says that notification should have a clear purpose.
Wed, Apr, 2 2008
An online shop has been told to award a promised prize and improve the way it runs competitions in the future. A competition whose result was due to be announced on 16th November last year still has no winner, it said.
Wed, Apr, 2 2008
Half of the UK's internet-using children have profiles on social networking sites despite bans for users under 13 on the major sites according to research by media regulator Ofcom. The research found that users are not especially concerned with privacy.
Tue, Apr, 1 2008
Telecoms regulator Ofcom will investigate rogue telephone service providers in response to a rise in the number of complaints about unscrupulous behaviour. Ofcom said it will launch new investigations to deal with the growing stream of complaints.
Tue, Apr, 1 2008
The body behind the European Convention on Human Rights has said that internet users must be told when content is being filtered, and that governments should not filter content except in very specific circumstances.
Tue, Apr, 1 2008
A company has been forced to change its use of pop-up advertisements by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), which investigated the company's practices under legislation protecting consumers against unfair contracts.
Tue, Apr, 1 2008
A field test began today as part of a project to overhaul the capital adequacy regime for Europe's insurance industry. Insurers and reinsurers are being urged to take part in this latest phase of the scheme known as Solvency II.
