Hi, Here is your weekly round-up of highlights from OUT-LAW News. As always, click the links to read the full stories of the summaries below or see these and many other stories from this week's news at http://www.out-law.com/page-5951. You can also access our archive of weekly emails at http://www.out-law.com/page-7793. The OUT-LAW Team ***This week's highlights from OUT-LAW News*** 1. FOI requests grow to numbers not seen since laws' introduction, says Government The public asked for the release of more information from public bodies at the start of this year than at any time since the immediate aftermath of the enactment of freedom of information (FOI) laws, the Government has said. 07/07/2011 http://www.out-law.com/page-12063 2. Government could ask Ofcom to protect business interests, says minister Ofcom may be asked to look after the interests of businesses as well as those of consumers, the UK's culture minister has said. There is "a legitimate argument" for such a change, the minister said. 07/07/2011 http://www.out-law.com/page-12062 3. Amazon's 'one-click' payment method too obvious to patent, European Patent Office rules A payment system devised by online retail giant Amazon is too obvious to patent, the European Patent Office (EPO) has ruled. 06/07/2011 http://www.out-law.com/page-12059 4. Legal protection should only be given to artists who sign up for copyright exchange, says musicians' rights campaigner The Government should approve the creation of a new digital copyright exchange and should make some legal protections available only to musicians who sign up to it, a campaigner for music artists' interests has said. 06/07/2011 http://www.out-law.com/page-12058 5. Public authorities should demonstrate equality commitments, proposed new regulations say Public authorities should have to publish annual reports that prove they comply with new UK equality laws from 2012, proposed new regulations say. 05/07/2011 http://www.out-law.com/page-12053 6. EU customer cloud data could be accessed by US terrorism investigators, Microsoft says Personal information belonging to EU users of US-owned cloud-based services could be shared with US law enforcers without the user being informed, Microsoft has said. 01/07/2011 http://www.out-law.com/page-12048 ***About this email*** This is a weekly email for subscribers of OUT-LAW.COM, a website with more than 10,000 pages of free legal news and guidance. If and when you need further advice, we hope you'll choose Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind OUT-LAW.COM. Feel free to forward this email to your friends. If someone forwarded this email to you and you'd like your own subscription, register free at http://www.out-law.com. Existing subscribers: you can manage your profile at http://www.out-law.com/page-520. The email address for this subscription is <>. Feel free to give us your feedback by replying to this email. To unsubscribe, please reply with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line. (We'd also appreciate you telling us why you've decided to unsubscribe.) This email is sent on behalf of Pinsent Masons LLP, a limited liability partnership registered in England & Wales (registered number: OC333653) and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The word 'partner', used in relation to the LLP, refers to a member of the LLP or an employee or consultant of the LLP or any affiliated firm who is a lawyer with equivalent standing and qualifications. A list of members of the LLP, and of those non-members who are designated as partners, is displayed at the LLP's registered office: 30 Crown Place, London, EC2A 4ES, United Kingdom. We use 'Pinsent Masons' to refer to Pinsent Masons LLP and affiliated entities that practise under the name 'Pinsent Masons' or a name that incorporates those words. Reference to 'Pinsent Masons' is to Pinsent Masons LLP and/or one or more of those affiliated entities as the context requires. For important regulatory information please visit: http://www.pinsentmasons.com.